東海大學 生命科學系

 

"Diversity, Zoogeography and Conservation of Sciaenidae, and building a global Sciaenidae research Network"

Sciaenidae is a major marine food fish family with 300 species distributed in the tropic and warm temperate coast and continental shelves worldwide; few are reef dwellers and 20 species are exclusively freshwater of Americas. Three distinct phylogenetic and geographic regions, New Word, East Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are identified for the family. Based on synapomorphies of gas bladder and otolith, three cross Pacific sister groups are found. Stelliferini (East Pacific + West Atlantic) and Johnini (Indo-Pacific) both have expanded anterior end of gas bladder and enlarged lapillus otolith. Stelliferiini forms a separated chamber, which is unique in Perciformes. Two endangered giant sciaenids, the Gulf of California Totuava macdonaldi and Bahaba taipingensis from Chinese coast, share unique gas bladder morphology with a pair of tubes originating from the front and extended to the posterior end. Both South America freshwater Plagioscion and Indo-pacific Otolithoides have a pair of tubular diverticula origin from the posterior end of gas bladder extend into the head region.   No similar synapomorphy was found among New Word and West Africa taxa. A more parsimony phylogenetic hypothesis of the sister-groups of East and West Pacific is a North Pacific track, but additional method and evidence are missing. In November 2009, we have successfully complete the first global Sciaenidae Red List Assessment for IUCN-SSC. I am pushing to form a Global Sciaenidae Conservation Network to continue the collaboration of this specialist group.