Systematic and Evolutionary Studies of Percid Fishes

北美鱼类动物群为研究比较、进化和系统发育关系提供了一个信息丰富的天然实验室。没有这些数据，动物群就无法直接估计群落形成、进化生态学以及物种形成的模式和速率。刺鱼科的鱼类是北美最多样化的鱼类之一，但许多物种之间的关系却鲜为人知。本研究的目的是利用淀粉凝胶电泳和系统发育分析来验证先前的几种镖镖种的生物地理和进化关系假说。目标物种内部和之间的关系对于解决北美东部许多流域最近构建的区域（河流）分支图非常有用，这些分支图可以追溯到更新世之前的动物群起源。研究将集中在两个广泛分布的percid属Etheostoma物种，Etheostoma亚属（属）内物种的关系，以及该分支与Ulocentra亚属（或Nanostoma）的亲缘关系。这项研究的潜在收获并不局限于修订传统上令人困惑的群体的分类和关系。这一分析将为未来鱼类的系统研究提供一个框架，并提高我们对进化生物学的理解。

The North American fish fauna provides an informative, natural laboratory useful in investigations of comparative, evolutionary, and -- phylogenetic relationships. Without these data the fauna is rendered inaccessible for direct estimates of community formation, evolutionary ecology, and modes and rates of speciation. Fishes of the family Percidae represent one of the most diverse groups in North America, yet relationships among many of the species are poorly known. The objectives of this study are to test previous biogeographic and evolutionary relationships hypothesis for several darter species, using starch gel electrophoresis and phylogenetic analyses. Relationships within and between the target species are extremely useful in resolving recently constructed area (river) cladograms for many drainages in eastern North America that dated the origin of the fauna well before the Pleistocene. The study will focus on two wide-spread species of the percid genus Etheostoma, the relationships of species within the subgenus Etheostoma (genus Etheostoma), and the phyletic affinities of this clade to the subgenus Ulocentra (or Nanostoma). The potential gains of the study are not restricted to revised taxonomy and relationships of traditionally confusing group. The analysis will supply both a framework for future systematic studies in percid fishes and improve our understanding of evolutionary biology.