Microspathodontinae, Jordan and Evermann, 1898

Tang, Kevin L., Stiassny, Melanie L. J., Mayden, Richard L. & DeSalle, Robert, 2021, Systematics of Damselfishes, Ichthyology & Herpetology 109 (1), pp. 258-318 : 282

Subfamily Microspathodontinae

The subfamily Microspathodontinae is the sister group of all other pomacentrids. Jordan and Evermann (1898) originally described the subfamily for only Microspathodon . Cooper and Santini (2016) expanded it to include a number of closely related genera, primarily housing the various genera formerly classified in the Pomacentrinae ( sensu Allen, 1991 ) that are not closely related to Pomacentrus , plus one transplant ( Mecaenichthys ) from the Chrominae . It contains several monotypic genera ( Hypsypops , Mecaenichthys , and Nexilosus ). The subfamily includes some of the largest damselfishes, which are mainly temperate species from genera like Hypsypops , Microspathodon , Nexilosus , and Parma . Representatives from several genera ( Microspathodon , Hypsypops , Nexilosus , and Stegastes ) are primarily benthic grazers that feed on filamentous algae and/or invertebrates (Aguilar-Medrano et al., 2011). Plectroglyphidodon and Stegastes , the two most species-rich and widespread genera, are not monophyletic. The results of this analysis show that the subfamily is also home to the enigmatic Lepidozygus . There is strong bootstrap support (100%) for Lepidozygus being the sister taxon of Stegastes sensu stricto ( Fig. 1 ; Supplemental Fig. 1 ; see Data Accessibility), clearly demonstrating that Lepidozygus tapeinosoma is a member of the Microspathodontinae . We hereby place Lepidozyginae in the synonymy of Microspathodontinae .

Figures

FIG. 1. The phylogenetic relationships of damselfishes (Teleostei: Pomacentridae): (A) outgroup taxa; (B) subfamilies Microspathodontinae and Glyphisodontinae; (C) subfamily Chrominae; (D) subfamily Pomacentrinae (part I); (E) subfamily Pomacentrinae (part II). The phylogeny is based on the maximum-likelihood topology with the best log likelihood score (ln L ¼ –45,4518.728) recovered from ten independent maximum-likelihood analyses of a data matrix composed of 462 taxa and 6,865 nucleotides. Bootstrap values from 1,000 ultrafast replicates are displayed for each node