Phylogeography of the Chinese false gudgeon, Abbottina rivularis, in East Asia, with special reference to the origin and artificial disturbance of Japanese populations

The Chinese false gudgeon, Abbottina rivularis, is a common cyprinid fish that is widely distributed throughout continental East Asia, but exhibits a restricted, discontinuous distribution in western Japan, including Honshu and Kyushu islands. In this study, analyses of mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear (glyt, myh6, and RAG1) genes were conducted to investigate patterns and magnitudes of intraspecific differentiation among A. rivularis populations in Japan and adjacent continental areas. Phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial gene sequences resolved four major lineages—the Japan lineage (JL), a northern continental lineage (NCL), and two southern continental lineages (SCL1 and SCL2)—with uncorrected pairwise sequence distances of 9.4–15.2% (estimated divergence times, 7.9–17.1 Myr). Two lineages (JL and SCL1) occurred in both the Honshu and Kyushu districts of Japan. Compared with populations in continental areas, most Japanese populations exhibited less genetic diversity. The JL was divided into two well-differentiated sub-lineages distributed on Honshu and Kyushu islands, respectively. Kyushu Island, as well as areas on Honshu where the species is known to have been introduced, also harbored the SCL1 lineage, which constituted most of the populations on Kyushu. The applied nuclear DNA data strongly suggest that hybridization between the Japan and continental lineages has occurred on Kyushu Island. The artificial introduction hypothesis, instead of a two-origin scenario, best explains the origin of the SCL1 in Japan.