UC San Diego

The triplefin blennies (Teleostei : Tripterygiidae) are a diverse group of cryoptobenthic fishes found globally, though usually associated with rocky or coral reefs. The Neotropics contain four genera and 25 species, many of which have only been recently described. A recent molecular phylogeny (Lin and Hastings 2013) contrasts with previous phylogenies based on morphology in recovering the four Neotropical genera as a single clade with respect to the Indo-Pacific genera; however, relationships within and among genera were poorly resolved. This study reports a novel topology based on an expanded seven-gene molecular dataset. The monophyly of Axoclinus is well supported, but Enneanectes is paraphyletic with the inclusion of Axoclinus and Crocodilichthys. A morphological dataset was constructed, but did not provide resolution. Apparent sister species appear have disjunct ranges, and allopatric speciation due to oceanographic breaks is a likely driver of speciation in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Improved taxa sampling within the Neotropical species, in addition to sampling additional genera outside of the Neotropics, is necessary to further improve resolution and confirm the monophyly of the Neotropical triplefins