Molecular Markers Reveal a New and Possibly Threatened Species of Cnesterodon (Poeciliidae, Cnesterodontini) from the Upper Parana River Basin, Brazil

Cnesterodon comprises 10 valid species occurring in the major river basins of South America. Recent ichthyofaunistic studies in the Ivai River basin, upper Parana River system, suggested the existence of a possible new species, which was identified as Cnesterodon sp. based on morphological characters. Currently, the use of molecular tools has proved to be fundamental in aiding phylogenetics and cataloging biodiversity; therefore, in this study, we molecularly characterize a possible new species of Cnesterodon from the Ivai River basin encoding the mitochondrial genes Cytochrome c Oxidase, subunit I (COI), and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2). The genetic differences found showed that this species really differs from the other Cnesterodon species, indicating that it is a distinct species, which is possibly already in serious danger of extinction since its habitat often suffers from human exploitation and its distribution is restricted to only two sites in the upper Ivai River basin, but it has disappeared in one of them.

Automated summary

A possible new species of Cnesterodon has been identified in the Ivai River basin, with distinct genetic differences from other Cnesterodon species. Its restricted distribution to only two sites and the disappearance of one of them suggests it is possibly already in serious danger of extinction.