The Amazon-Orinoco Barrier as a driver of reef-fish speciation in the Western Atlantic through time

Gabriel S. Araujo; Luiz A. Rocha; Naomi S. Lastrucci; Osmar J. Luiz; Fabio Di Dario; Sergio R. Floeter

doi:10.1111/jbi.14398

The Amazon-Orinoco Barrier as a driver of reef-fish speciation in the Western Atlantic through time

Gabriel S. Araujo, Luiz A. Rocha, Naomi S. Lastrucci, Osmar J. Luiz, Fabio Di Dario, Sergio R. Floeter

Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Aim

The Amazon-Orinoco plume is the major biogeographical barrier between the Great Caribbean and the Brazilian Province. No study has so far addressed the influence of this barrier in a broad chrono-phylogenetic context. Here, we evaluate the effects of the Amazon-Orinoco plume barrier on the patterns of diversification of Western Atlantic reef fishes through time.

Location

Tropical Western Atlantic.

Taxon

Reef Fishes (Percomorpha).

Methods

We compiled DNA sequence data of 21 molecular markers from sister species/population pairs across 33 reef-fish families in the Greater Caribbean biogeographical region and the Brazilian Province. The data included estimated divergence times between sister-pairs based on previously published phylogenies and 94 newly proposed time-trees. Divergence dates were compared with variations in the sedimentation discharge rate of the Amazon River and sea-level fluctuations. To address the hypothesis that fishes with different adult sizes are affected differently by the Amazon-Orinoco plume, we used a phylogenetic least squares regression to test the relationship between maximum total body length and divergence times between the Caribbean and Brazilian sister-pairs.

Results

We identified an increase in the rates of lineage diversification between sister-pairs of the Greater Caribbean and Brazilian Province reef fishes in the past 2.4 million years, in accordance with the period of higher sedimentation rates of the Amazon River and the more frequent sea-level fluctuations in the Pleistocene. A strong relationship between total body length and effectiveness of the barrier through time was confirmed, with smaller species typically diverging earlier in periods when sedimentation rates of the Amazon River were significantly lower.

Conclusions

The strong biogeographical signal detected in this study across different lineages of reef fishes clearly indicates that the Amazon-Orinoco plume played a significant role in the diversification of the Atlantic reef-fish fauna. The temporal pattern of diversifications indicates a correlation between the permeability of the plume, sea-level fluctuations, variability in the volume of the discharge and fish body size, with the barrier's influence being weaker on larger fishes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1407-1419
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Biogeography
Volume	49
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14398
Publication status	Published - Aug 2022

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10.1111/jbi.14398

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@article{cd3bca60734b40caaeab5718287266b1,

title = "The Amazon-Orinoco Barrier as a driver of reef-fish speciation in the Western Atlantic through time",

abstract = "AimThe Amazon-Orinoco plume is the major biogeographical barrier between the Great Caribbean and the Brazilian Province. No study has so far addressed the influence of this barrier in a broad chrono-phylogenetic context. Here, we evaluate the effects of the Amazon-Orinoco plume barrier on the patterns of diversification of Western Atlantic reef fishes through time.LocationTropical Western Atlantic.TaxonReef Fishes (Percomorpha).MethodsWe compiled DNA sequence data of 21 molecular markers from sister species/population pairs across 33 reef-fish families in the Greater Caribbean biogeographical region and the Brazilian Province. The data included estimated divergence times between sister-pairs based on previously published phylogenies and 94 newly proposed time-trees. Divergence dates were compared with variations in the sedimentation discharge rate of the Amazon River and sea-level fluctuations. To address the hypothesis that fishes with different adult sizes are affected differently by the Amazon-Orinoco plume, we used a phylogenetic least squares regression to test the relationship between maximum total body length and divergence times between the Caribbean and Brazilian sister-pairs.ResultsWe identified an increase in the rates of lineage diversification between sister-pairs of the Greater Caribbean and Brazilian Province reef fishes in the past 2.4 million years, in accordance with the period of higher sedimentation rates of the Amazon River and the more frequent sea-level fluctuations in the Pleistocene. A strong relationship between total body length and effectiveness of the barrier through time was confirmed, with smaller species typically diverging earlier in periods when sedimentation rates of the Amazon River were significantly lower.ConclusionsThe strong biogeographical signal detected in this study across different lineages of reef fishes clearly indicates that the Amazon-Orinoco plume played a significant role in the diversification of the Atlantic reef-fish fauna. The temporal pattern of diversifications indicates a correlation between the permeability of the plume, sea-level fluctuations, variability in the volume of the discharge and fish body size, with the barrier's influence being weaker on larger fishes.",

keywords = "Amazon River, body size, Brazil, Caribbean, Coral Reefs, divergence time, marine biogeography",

author = "Araujo, {Gabriel S.} and Rocha, {Luiz A.} and Lastrucci, {Naomi S.} and Luiz, {Osmar J.} and {Di Dario}, Fabio and Floeter, {Sergio R.}",

note = "Funding Information: Financial support to GSA was provided by Coordena{\c c}{\~a}o de Aperfei{\c c}oamento de Pessoal de N{\'i}vel Superior (CAPES grant #88882.461696/2019‐01), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient{\'i}fico e Tecnol{\'o}gico (CNPq grant PROTAX 443302/2020), and grant nos. #88881.624424/2021‐01 (CAPES) and #4‐22‐0314 (Lakeside Foundation) for visiting LAR at the California Academy of Sciences. SRF was supported by CAPES (grant #4551‐13‐3), and LAR by the California Academy of Sciences Hope For Reefs Initiative. SRF is grateful to his research productivity grant provided by the CNPq (grant 307340/2019‐8). We thank A. Lindner (UFSC) and Anderson V. Vasconcellos (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) for their comments on the manuscript. Ana C. Petry (NUPEM/UFRJ) helped with the analyses. We are also grateful to Ana Liedke, Brian Bowen, Eric Hoffman and Ricardo Beldade for kindly providing us with the requested sequences. No permits were needed to carry out this work. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1111/jbi.14398",

language = "English",

volume = "49",

pages = "1407--1419",

journal = "Journal of Biogeography",

issn = "0305-0270",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "8",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Amazon-Orinoco Barrier as a driver of reef-fish speciation in the Western Atlantic through time

AU - Araujo, Gabriel S.

AU - Rocha, Luiz A.

AU - Lastrucci, Naomi S.

AU - Luiz, Osmar J.

AU - Di Dario, Fabio

AU - Floeter, Sergio R.

N1 - Funding Information: Financial support to GSA was provided by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES grant #88882.461696/2019‐01), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq grant PROTAX 443302/2020), and grant nos. #88881.624424/2021‐01 (CAPES) and #4‐22‐0314 (Lakeside Foundation) for visiting LAR at the California Academy of Sciences. SRF was supported by CAPES (grant #4551‐13‐3), and LAR by the California Academy of Sciences Hope For Reefs Initiative. SRF is grateful to his research productivity grant provided by the CNPq (grant 307340/2019‐8). We thank A. Lindner (UFSC) and Anderson V. Vasconcellos (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) for their comments on the manuscript. Ana C. Petry (NUPEM/UFRJ) helped with the analyses. We are also grateful to Ana Liedke, Brian Bowen, Eric Hoffman and Ricardo Beldade for kindly providing us with the requested sequences. No permits were needed to carry out this work. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2022/8

Y1 - 2022/8

N2 - AimThe Amazon-Orinoco plume is the major biogeographical barrier between the Great Caribbean and the Brazilian Province. No study has so far addressed the influence of this barrier in a broad chrono-phylogenetic context. Here, we evaluate the effects of the Amazon-Orinoco plume barrier on the patterns of diversification of Western Atlantic reef fishes through time.LocationTropical Western Atlantic.TaxonReef Fishes (Percomorpha).MethodsWe compiled DNA sequence data of 21 molecular markers from sister species/population pairs across 33 reef-fish families in the Greater Caribbean biogeographical region and the Brazilian Province. The data included estimated divergence times between sister-pairs based on previously published phylogenies and 94 newly proposed time-trees. Divergence dates were compared with variations in the sedimentation discharge rate of the Amazon River and sea-level fluctuations. To address the hypothesis that fishes with different adult sizes are affected differently by the Amazon-Orinoco plume, we used a phylogenetic least squares regression to test the relationship between maximum total body length and divergence times between the Caribbean and Brazilian sister-pairs.ResultsWe identified an increase in the rates of lineage diversification between sister-pairs of the Greater Caribbean and Brazilian Province reef fishes in the past 2.4 million years, in accordance with the period of higher sedimentation rates of the Amazon River and the more frequent sea-level fluctuations in the Pleistocene. A strong relationship between total body length and effectiveness of the barrier through time was confirmed, with smaller species typically diverging earlier in periods when sedimentation rates of the Amazon River were significantly lower.ConclusionsThe strong biogeographical signal detected in this study across different lineages of reef fishes clearly indicates that the Amazon-Orinoco plume played a significant role in the diversification of the Atlantic reef-fish fauna. The temporal pattern of diversifications indicates a correlation between the permeability of the plume, sea-level fluctuations, variability in the volume of the discharge and fish body size, with the barrier's influence being weaker on larger fishes.

AB - AimThe Amazon-Orinoco plume is the major biogeographical barrier between the Great Caribbean and the Brazilian Province. No study has so far addressed the influence of this barrier in a broad chrono-phylogenetic context. Here, we evaluate the effects of the Amazon-Orinoco plume barrier on the patterns of diversification of Western Atlantic reef fishes through time.LocationTropical Western Atlantic.TaxonReef Fishes (Percomorpha).MethodsWe compiled DNA sequence data of 21 molecular markers from sister species/population pairs across 33 reef-fish families in the Greater Caribbean biogeographical region and the Brazilian Province. The data included estimated divergence times between sister-pairs based on previously published phylogenies and 94 newly proposed time-trees. Divergence dates were compared with variations in the sedimentation discharge rate of the Amazon River and sea-level fluctuations. To address the hypothesis that fishes with different adult sizes are affected differently by the Amazon-Orinoco plume, we used a phylogenetic least squares regression to test the relationship between maximum total body length and divergence times between the Caribbean and Brazilian sister-pairs.ResultsWe identified an increase in the rates of lineage diversification between sister-pairs of the Greater Caribbean and Brazilian Province reef fishes in the past 2.4 million years, in accordance with the period of higher sedimentation rates of the Amazon River and the more frequent sea-level fluctuations in the Pleistocene. A strong relationship between total body length and effectiveness of the barrier through time was confirmed, with smaller species typically diverging earlier in periods when sedimentation rates of the Amazon River were significantly lower.ConclusionsThe strong biogeographical signal detected in this study across different lineages of reef fishes clearly indicates that the Amazon-Orinoco plume played a significant role in the diversification of the Atlantic reef-fish fauna. The temporal pattern of diversifications indicates a correlation between the permeability of the plume, sea-level fluctuations, variability in the volume of the discharge and fish body size, with the barrier's influence being weaker on larger fishes.

KW - Amazon River

KW - body size

KW - Brazil

KW - Caribbean

KW - Coral Reefs

KW - divergence time

KW - marine biogeography

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130718498&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/jbi.14398

DO - 10.1111/jbi.14398

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85130718498

SN - 0305-0270

VL - 49

SP - 1407

EP - 1419

JO - Journal of Biogeography

JF - Journal of Biogeography

IS - 8

ER -

The Amazon-Orinoco Barrier as a driver of reef-fish speciation in the Western Atlantic through time

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