Phylogeny of moray eels (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae), with a revised classification of true eels (Teleostei: Elopomorpha: Anguilliformes)

Abstract

The family Muraenidae is one of the largest and most recognizable eel groups. Moray eels are key components of marine ecosystems but their relationships remain poorly understood. The phylogenetic relationships of the morays are examined herein using mitochondrial 12S and 16S sequence data, totaling 1673 bp for 139 taxa. The results of our analyses found support for a monophyletic family Muraenidae that is part of a monophyletic suborder Muraenoidei, which is revised to include the anguilliform families Heterenchelyidae and Myrocongridae, and to exclude the family Chlopsidae. The muraenids form two monophyletic subfamilies, Muraeninae and Uropterygiinae. Of the genera that had multiple species included for analysis, only the type genus of the family, Muraena, is found to be monophyletic. In the subfamily Uropterygiinae, Uropterygius is not recovered as a monophyletic genus. In the subfamily Muraeninae, the species-rich piscivorous genera, Enchelycore and Gymnothorax, and the durophagous genus, Echidna, are demonstrably not monophyletic. The monotypic Gymnomuraena is the sister group to all other muraenine species. The relationships within Muraenidae require much additional study and its genera remain in urgent need of revision. The order Anguilliformes is revised herein to include four suborders: Anguilloidei, Congroidei, Muraenoidei, and Synaphobranchoidei. All four families of the order Saccopharyngiformes are nested within Anguilliformes, recovered as part of a clade that includes Anguillidae; the saccopharyngiform families are referred to the suborder Anguilloidei sensu novum.

Keywords::

• Muraenids
• phylogenetics
• systematics
• taxonomy
• nomenclature

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank W. L. Smith (Field Museum) and J. S. Sparks (AMNH) for their assistance with data collection, analysis, and valuable suggestions during the course of this project. For generously providing tissue samples, we are grateful to A. C. Bentley and E. O. Wiley (University of Kansas), J. A. López (University of Alaska), and H. J. Walker (Scripps Institution of Oceanography). The manuscript benefited greatly from changes recommended by the editor, R. DeSalle (AMNH). We wish to thank E. R. Britt, D. M. De La Mare, R. B. Millsap, and B. M. Veillet (University of Michigan-Flint) for their helpful comments and suggestions that improved the quality of the manuscript.

Declaration of interest The American Museum of Natural History Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research provided financial support that made this project possible. Additional funding from the Sackler and Korein families to the AMNH aided in the completion of this work. The AMNH Department of Ichthyology and the Axelrod Curatorship in Ichthyology (M. L. J. Stiassny) assisted with travel costs. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notice of CorrectionThe version of this article published online ahead of print on 12 September 2012 contained the following text on pages 63–64. The text has been deleted in this version because we were notified by the authors that it is now outdated. This is due to a modification in the material referenced (Johnson et al., 2012).Their classification placed Protoanguilla [sic] palau in the family Protocongridae and the suborder Protocongroidei. The family-group name Protocongridae is improperly described and therefore not available, it is likely a lapsus. An alternate spelling of the family-group name, Protoanguillidae [sic], appears in their list of cleared and stained material examined, this is likely another lapsus. These names do not appear in the main text of the manuscript, where the genus-group name is spelled Protanguilla and classified in the family Protanguillidae, and the subordinal classification of the family is not addressed.