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Reinvestigation of the osteology of the miniature African freshwater fishesCromeria andGrasseichthys (Teleostei, Gonorynchiformes, Kneriidae), with comments on kneriid relationships

2007; Pensoft Publishers; Volume: 83; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/mmnz.200600016

1860-0743

Ralf Britz, Timo Moritz,

Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Zoosystematics and EvolutionVolume 83, Issue 1 p. 3-42 Original Paper Reinvestigation of the osteology of the miniature African freshwater fishes Cromeria and Grasseichthys (Teleostei, Gonorynchiformes, Kneriidae), with comments on kneriid relationships Ralf Britz, Ralf Britz r.britz@nhm.ac.uk Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United KingdomSearch for more papers by this authorTimo Moritz, Timo Moritz moritz@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Theodor-Boveri-Institut, Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanySearch for more papers by this author Ralf Britz, Ralf Britz r.britz@nhm.ac.uk Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, United KingdomSearch for more papers by this authorTimo Moritz, Timo Moritz moritz@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Theodor-Boveri-Institut, Universität Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanySearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 March 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnz.200600016Citations: 9AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract The osteology of the three miniaturized African freshwater gonorynchiforms Cromeria nilotica, C. occidentalis and Grasseichthys gabonensis is investigated. We show that the two species of Cromeria, long considered to be subspecies, differ significantly in a number of characters. This has some consequences because all recent studies of the relationships of Cromeria were based only on C. occidentalis. We review previous osteological accounts of Cromeria and Grasseichthys and discuss the differences that we encountered in our material. In addition we re-evaluate the characters considered of phylogenetic importance for the placement of Cromeria and Grasseichthys among kneriids. We demonstrate that a surprisingly large number of these was based on misinterpretations of anatomical characters or was applied at the wrong level of inclusiveness. Cromeria nilotica, C. occidentalis, and Grasseichthys gabonensis share numerous developmental truncations, but no derived progressive characters, which makes it difficult to place them phylogenetically among kneriid gonorynchiforms. Grasseichthys is the most developmentally truncated of the three miniature species. In addition to bones that are absent in the two species of Cromeria (suprapreopercle, symplectic, ectopterygoid, hypural 6, scales), Grasseichthys lacks the premaxilla, coronomeckelian, urohyal, posttemporal, cranial rib, epineural and epipleural intermuscular bones, and the anterior most branchiostegal ray. We discuss characters that we think will be of significance in future studies on kneriid intrarelationships. Finally, we address the general issue that taxa that have undergone extreme reduction of body size, as the three miniature kneriids, frequently show severe developmental truncations that render it difficult to determine their phylogenetic position with confidence. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Citing Literature Volume83, Issue1April 2007Pages 3-42 RelatedInformation