Integrating fossils with genomic data to clarify the evolution of the herring-like fishes (Clupeiformes: Clupeoidei)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Bettina Reichenbacher
• Subject Area: Palaeontology ; Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2018 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 403523527

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

Modern herring-like fishes (suborder Clupeoidei, order Clupeiformes, subcohort Clupei) constitute a large group of teleost fishes, comprising approximately 444 small to moderate-sized species (<50 cm), mostly marine-pelagic, that play significant ecological and economic roles. Their fossil record of articulated skeletons encompasses about 130 described species, many of which are very well preserved. However, the evolutionary history of the Clupei is not well known, mainly because the systematic affinities of several important fossils have remained tentative or uncertain. In this project, our aim was to significantly advance our understanding of the evolutionary history of herring-like fishes. To achieve this, we assembled a morphology-based phylogenetic matrix, which includes representatives of all major clupeiform lineages (79 modern and 37 fossil taxa) and comprises 192 characters that are readily identifiable in fossils. Unconstrained/constrained maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference based on the new matrix recovered six of the nine families of the Clupeoidei as monophyletic, and their relationships were largely compatible with previous morphology-based hypotheses. The phylogenetic positions of 16 fossil species could be resolved with good to high confidence. Depending on the levels of agreement between different methods of analysis, we sorted our results into five categories, ranging from complete agreement (Category A) to complete disagreement or no resolution (Category E). We suggested four calibration points that could be used in future node-dating studies based on the fossils of Category A. As for the systematically ambiguously interpreted Clupei fossil taxa, their affinities could be resolved in the future by adding more characters to the matrix, such as aspects of scale morphology or other fine structures preserved only in certain fossils. In any case, the data contained in the present matrix pave the way for future studies to integrate morphological and molecular characters to better understand the evolution of herring-like fishes, to explore their historical biogeography and ecological adaptations, and to refine molecular dating estimates. Another outcome of our project was the preparation of taxonomic revisions of species previously described as “Alosa”, which turned out to represent new genera, as well as the description of previously undescribed specimens discovered in some museum collections. One of these studies is already published, the others will be forthcoming in the near future. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to collaborate with the team led by Chenhong Li (Shanghai University). In the resulting study, a new classification of Clupeiformes was achieved based on molecular phylogenetics, and the subdivision of the Clupeoidei into nine families was proposed. Our contribution was to provide new fossil calibration points and to participate in the discussion of the resulting divergence ages of major clupeiform lineages in the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene.

Publications

• A new clupeid species from the Upper Miocene of Greece: a possible Hilsa relative from the Mediterranean. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 66.
  Kevrekidis, Charalampos; Arratia, Gloria; Bacharidis, Nikos & Reichenbacher, Bettina
  
• Phylogenetic relationships of fossil herring-like fishes (Clupeiformes, Teleostei). In: Stumpf, S., Türtscher, J., Pfaff, C., Jambura, P.L. & Kriwet, J. (Eds.), Abstracts of the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt, 142, p. 43, Wien.
  Kevrekidis, C., Cerwenka, A.F. & Reichenbacher, B.
  
• A new morphological phylogeny sheds light on the evolution of fossil herring-like fishes. 47. Treffen des Arbeitskreis Wirbeltierpaläontologie, Paläontologische Gesellschaft, Mainz.
  Kevrekidis, C., Cerwenka, A.F. & Reichenbacher, B.
  
• A new species of herring-like fish (Clupeiformes, Teleostei) from the upper Miocene of Serres Basin, Greece. Abstracts Book, Conference “Paleontology and Stratigraphy in Greece in the 21st century”, pp. 38-39, Athens.
  Kevrekidis, C., Arratia, G., Bacharidis, N. & Reichenbacher, B.
  
• Molecular phylogenetics of the Clupeiformes based on exon-capture data and a new classification of the order. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 175, 107590.
  Wang, Qian; Purrafee, Dizaj Leyli; Huang, Junman; Kumar, Sarker Kishor; Kevrekidis, Charalampos; Reichenbacher, Bettina; Reza, Esmaeili Hamid; Straube, Nicolas; Moritz, Timo & Li, Chenhong
  
• The effect of fossils on a morphological phylogeny of herring-like fishes (Teleostei: Clupeiformes). In: Schweigert, G. (Ed.), Abstracts of the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, p. 32, Stuttgart.
  Kevrekidis, C., Cerwenka, A.F. & Reichenbacher, B.
  
• The effect of fossils on morphological phylogenies, as exemplified in herring-like fishes (Teleostei: Clupeiformes). Abstract book of the 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Session 25, Fish evolution through the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, p. 295, Khon Kaen, Thailand, Nov. 7-11, 2022.
  Kevrekidis, C., Cerwenka, A.F. & Reichenbacher, B.
  
• The first fossil record of a menhaden (Brevoortia, Clupeidae, Teleostei) from the upper Miocene (12.5-8 M.y.a.) of Northwestern Turkey greatly expands the geographic range of this genus. Book of Abstracts, 8me Rencontres de l’Ichtyologie en France, Société Française d’Ichtyologie, pp. 57-58, Paris.
  Kevrekidis, C., Cerwenka, A.F. & Reichenbacher, B.