First genetic record of the non-native muzzled blenny Omobranchus punctatus (Teleostei: Blenniidae) in the Atlantic Coast of Central and South America

M Pilar Cabezas; Oscar M Lasso-Alcalá; Raquel Xavier; Michael J Jowers

doi:10.1111/jfb.14268

First genetic record of the non-native muzzled blenny Omobranchus punctatus (Teleostei: Blenniidae) in the Atlantic Coast of Central and South America

J Fish Biol. 2020 Mar;96(3):841-846. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14268. Epub 2020 Feb 20.

Authors

M Pilar Cabezas^{1

2}, Oscar M Lasso-Alcalá³, Raquel Xavier², Michael J Jowers²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
² CIBIO-InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas nº 7, Vairão, Portugal.
³ Museo de Historia Natural La Salle, Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, Caracas, Venezuela.

PMID: 31995228
DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14268

Abstract

In this study we sequenced two mitochondrial (COI and 16S rRNA) and one nuclear (18S rRNA) gene fragment of an introduced muzzled blenny (Omobranchus punctatus) specimen collected from the Orinoco Delta (Gulf of Paria estuary) in Venezuela. This is the first genetic data generated for this species' introduced range in Central and South America, suggesting an introduction from the Indian Ocean.

Keywords: Caribbean; DNA barcoding; ballast water; biofouling; exotic fish; introduction pattern.

MeSH terms

Animals
Atlantic Ocean
DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
Electron Transport Complex IV / genetics
Indian Ocean
Introduced Species*
Perciformes / classification
Perciformes / genetics*
Phylogeny
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / genetics
South America
Venezuela

Substances

DNA, Mitochondrial
RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
Electron Transport Complex IV

Grants and funding

Financial support came from nonprofit organizations Conservation International (USA) and Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales (Venezuela) to the project Biological Assessment and Socio Economical Aspects of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Gulf of Paria and Orinoco Delta, Venezuela under the Program AquaRAP from 2002 to 2004. M.J.J. is supported by FCT (FCT, SFRH/BPD/109148/2015) and R.X. by FCT under the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano - Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional funds from the European Social Fund and the Portuguese Ministério da Educação e Ciência (IF-FCT contract IF/00359/2015).