Molecular Systematics, Biogeography, and Invasion Identity of Neogobiin Fishes

调查的目的是阐明黑海和里海特有鱼类的进化历史、物种鉴定和生物地理多样性模式，这种鱼类已经成为入侵北美和欧亚生态系统的一个日益严重的问题。许多生态学家认为，这种外来物种的引入对全球本土生态系统构成了最严重的威胁之一。例如，北美五大湖的生态已经被一波又一波的入侵者意外地从船只的压舱水中引入，包括庞托-里海圆形虎鱼和它的斑马贻贝猎物。20世纪90年代初，两种虾虎鱼--圆虾虎鱼和巨尾虾虎鱼--入侵了S，前者迅速蔓延到五大湖。相关类群的入侵似乎越来越多地成为外来群落的特征，这可能会相互促进。由于运河建设、航运和栖息地的干扰，欧亚水道上的其他几种新戈宾物种也一直在“迁徙”。其中一些--包括猴子、大头和赛车虎鱼--预计将入侵北美，可能已经在这里，但尚未确定。这项研究将开发诊断DNA序列特征并构建分类学检索表，以便在所有生活史阶段正确识别新戈宾。此外，序列数据将提供手段来阐明外来入侵的来源，识别神秘物种，分析相关物种是否也入侵或可能入侵，并确定新的殖民是来自传播还是来自独立的引入。结果将对生态学家、环境管理人员和国际机构，如水生公害特别工作组，在快速和具有成本效益的情况下识别分类群，并划定其种群起源区域具有基本用途。

The objectives of the investigation are to elucidate the evolutionary history, species identifications, and biogeographic diversification patterns of a remarkable endemic "species flock" of fishes native to the Black and Caspian Seas that has become a growing problem in its invasions of North American and Eurasian ecosystems. Many ecologists believe that such introductions of exotic species pose one of the most serious threats to native ecosystems worldwide. For example, the ecology of the North American Great Lakes has been restructured by waves of invaders that were accidentally introduced from ships' ballast water, including the Ponto-Caspian round goby and its zebra mussel prey. Two goby species - the round goby and the tubenose goby - invaded in the early 1990's, and the former spread rapidly to all five Great Lakes. Invasions by suites of related taxa increasingly appear to characterize exotic communities, which may facilitate one another. Several other neogobiin species also have been "on the move" in Eurasian waterways due to construction of canals, shipping, and habitat disturbances. Some of these - including the monkey, bighead, and racer gobies - are predicted to invade North America and may already be here, but are not yet identified. This study will develop diagnostic DNA sequence characters and construct taxonomic keys to permit correct identification of the neogobiins at all life history stages. In addition, the sequence data will provide the means to elucidate the sources of exotic invasions, identify cryptic species, analyze whether relatived species also invade or are likely to, and determine whether new colonizations arise from spread or from independent introductions. Results will be of fundamental use to ecologists, environmental managers, and international agencies such as the Aquatic Nuisance Task Force in allowing rapid and cost-effective identification of taxa, and delineating their population area of origin.