Cyprinodontiform fishes

p. [337]-557 : ill., maps ; 26 cm.Thesis (Ph. D.)--City University of New York.Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-557)."The cyprinodontiforms, or killifishes, are a large and diverse group of 900 fresh- and brackish-water species with a pantropical and temperate Laurasian distribution. Traditionally, it has been classified in five families: the worldwide, oviparous Cyprinodontidae, and four New World viviparous families: the Poeciliidae, Anablepidae, Jenynsiidae, and Goodeidae. Fishes of the diverse Cyprinodontidae, in turn, have been divided into as many as eight subfamilies. The objectives of the present study are to: (1) determine if the cyprinodontiform fishes as a whole form a monophyletic group; (2) determine if each of the five families is monophyletic; (3) define the major subgroups of cyprinodontiforms, concentrating on the genera of the Cyprinodontidae; (4) determine the interrelationships of the subgroups; (5) present a comprehensive classification of the cyprinodontiforms that reflects the interrelationships; and (6) provide a hypothesis for the distribution of the group. The following general results were obtained by using the methods of phylogenetic systematics and vicariance biogeography: (1) the cyprinodontiforms are considered to be monophyletic by their sharing derived characters of the caudal skeleton, upper jaw, gill arches, position of the first pleural rib, pectoral girdle, and aspects of breeding and development; (2) the family Cyprinodontidae is nonmonophyletic as it contains some of the most primitive and derived cyprinodontiforms; (3) each of the four viviparous families is monophyletic; however, their previous definitions in terms of uniquely derived characters have been altered; (4) the development of an annual habit, exhibited by members of the aplocheiloid killifishes and possibly some cyprinodontoids, includes derived reproductive traits exhibited to some degree by all killifishes; therefore, the annual habit does not define a monophyletic group of killifishes; (5) similarly, viviparity is not hypothesized to be a uniquely derived character, but has apparently arisen at least three times within the group; and (6) the interrelationships of cyprinodontiforms correspond, in part, with a pattern of the break-up of Pangea, except for an Andean-Eurasian sister group pair. A scheme of interrelationships of cyprinodontiforms as well as of monophyletic subgroups is presented in the form of cladograms, of which the former is transformed into a comprehensive classification of the group. The fishes under study are recognized as comprising the order Cyprinodontiformes Berg and divided into two suborders, the Aplocheiloidei (which previously comprised, in part, the Cyprinodontidae), and the Cyprinodontoidei (comprising all other cyprinodontiforms as well as the four viviparous families). In order to minimize the number of named empty categories, a numbering system is incorporated into a traditional naming system to create the new classification"--P. [341]

Phallostethid fishes

12 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 11-12)."The Phallostethidae (including Neostethidae) is a family comprised of approximately 20 species of small, fresh, brackish, and occasionally salt-water atherinomorph fishes of Indo-Australia. Phallostethids have variously been suggested as closest relatives of the atherinoid or cyprinodontiform fishes among the atherinomorphs, or of the polynemids or gobioids among the percomorphs. Phallostethids uniquely share several derived characters of the jaws and the anal fin with a group of Indo-Australian and Pacific atherinoids. The western Pacific Dentatherina Patten and Ivantsoff is proposed as the sister group of the Phallostethidae. The anatomy of Phallostethus Regan, the type genus, is poorly known because of the scarcity and unsatisfactory condition of available material. A report on the anatomy of Phallostethus dunckeri Regan, the sole species of the genus, based on examination of the syntypes and on unpublished notes and sketches is also included"--P. [1]

Relationships of Oryzias, and the groups of atherinomorph fishes. American Museum novitates ; no. 2719

25 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-25).Newly discovered evidence, particularly that pertaining to the gill arch skeleton and hyoid apparatus, indicates that adrianichthyoids (ricefishes and their allies) are related more closely to halfbeaks, flyingfishes, needlefishes, and sauries than to the killifishes with which they have been associated for over a century. This discovery was used as an occasion to reevaluate atherinomorph interrelationships and the monophyly of the included groups. We conclude that atherinoids are not presently a definable group, but that killifishes and the ricefishes plus halfbeaks and allies are. We also support the monophyly of the Atherinomorpha. In our proposed theory of relationships we have (1) abandoned use of the term Atherinoidei to represent the fishes formerly grouped by that name, preferring instead to include them in a general classification of the Atherinomorpha by a listing convention; and (2) used the ordinal term Cyprinodontiformes for killifishes, in conformity with a recent monographic revision by parenti (1981), and the term Beloniformes (including the Adrianichthyoidei and Exocoetoidei) for its coordinate sister group. We find the Atherinomorpha to be supported by 10 characters uniquely derived among ctenosquamate neoteleostean fishes and a subdivision including cyprinodontiforms and beloniforms to be supported by four characters uniquely derived within the Atherinomorpha. Some or all 'atherinoid' fishes are thought to be plesiomorphous to that subdivision"--P. [1]

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Peer reviewe

Diagnosis and management of Cornelia de Lange syndrome:first international consensus statement

Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is an archetypical genetic syndrome that is characterized by intellectual disability, well-defined facial features, upper limb anomalies and atypical growth, among numerous other signs and symptoms. It is caused by variants in any one of seven genes, all of which have a structural or regulatory function in the cohesin complex. Although recent advances in next-generation sequencing have improved molecular diagnostics, marked heterogeneity exists in clinical and molecular diagnostic approaches and care practices worldwide. Here, we outline a series of recommendations that document the consensus of a group of international experts on clinical diagnostic criteria, both for classic CdLS and non-classic CdLS phenotypes, molecular investigations, long-term management and care planning

A phylogenetic revision of the phallostethid fishes (Atherinomorpha, Phallostethidae)

Volume: 46Start Page: 243End Page: 27

Bilateral asymmetry in phallostethid fishes (Atherinomorpha) with description of a new species from Sarawak

Volume: 44Start Page: 225End Page: 23