Meeting Abstract
The genus of sculpin Icelinus, described by Jordan in 1885, contains eleven species of phylogenetic and biogeographic interest. The phylogenetic placement of Icelinus has been inconsistent in previous molecular and morphological analyses, with sister taxa being Chitonotus, Stlengis, Antipodocottus, or a mixed clade of psychrolutids. In addition to the disparity in sister taxa, the use of molecular or morphological data yields contradicting placement of Icelinus. Most morphological analyses place the genus sister to Eastern Pacific psychrolutids while molecular analyses, in addition to a subset of morphological studies, place the genus sister to Western Pacific psychrolutids. However, all previous studies have not taken Western Pacific Icelinus species into account. Biogeographically, Icelinus is one of few cottoid genera that are trans-Pacific, with multiple species residing on each side of the Pacific. Despite being one of the few trans-Pacific genera, an unusual distribution of species occurs; with nine species in the Eastern Pacific and two in the Western Pacific. In this study, we combined a novel molecular and morphological dataset to test the previous competing hypotheses about the limits and relationships of Icelinus, focusing on its relationships amongst close allies and the relationships between Eastern and Western Pacific species of Icelinus. Our results show the non-monophyly of Icelinus in addition to placing Antipodocottus in a phylogenetic context for the first time.
