CARLIN, Joel L.; Whitman College: Phylogenetic relationships among groupers (Percoidei: Serranidae: Epinephelinae)

I assessed variability among species of epinephelin and other serranid fishes at both the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene and the noncoding nuclear intron, LDHA6. Although both mtDNA and nuclear gene trees were concordant in some issues, the two datasets were significantly incongruent and could not be combined in a phylogenetic reconstruction of tribal relationships. Several nodes that were well-supported by cytochrome b data were also concordant with other 16S rRNA mtDNA data and/or previously described patterns of larval morphology. The grouper tribe Epinephelini was not a monophyletic group in the mtDNA gene genealogy, because of the insertion of other families and subfamilies between the coralgroupers (Plectropomus, Saloptia, and Variola) and other epinephelin genera. The genera Epinephelus, Mycteroperca, and Cephalopholis were confirmed as paraphyletic by mitochondrial but not intron data.