Between an ocean and a high place: coastal drainage isolation generates endemic cryptic species in the Cape kurper Sandelia capensis (Anabantiformes: Anabantidae), Cape Region, South Africa.

This study investigated the range-wide phylogenetics and biogeography of the Cape kurper Sandelia capensis, a primary freshwater fish endemic to and widespread within the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Maximum likelihood, Bayesian phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses, based on two mitochondrial and two nuclear genes, revealed the existence of three reciprocally monophyletic, deeply divergent and allopatric clades that probably represent cryptic species. The West Coast Clade is largely confined to the Langvlei, Verlorenvlei, Berg and Diep Rivers, the Klein River Clade is endemic to the Klein River and the South Coast Clade is found everywhere else in the range of S.

Molecular and morphological evidence reveals hybridisation between two endemic cyprinid fishes.

The geographic occurrence of moggel Labeo umbratus × mud fish Labeo capensis hybrids and the threat of hybridisation to the genetic integrity of L. umbratus were investigated. Genetic evidence from mtDNA cytb and nDNA s7 intron sequence data indicated probable interspecific hybridisation in two impoundments, Hardap Dam (Orange River Basin, Namibia) and Darlington Dam (Sundays River Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa).

A new species catfish, Amphilius pagei (Siluriformes: Amphiliidae) from Angola.

Amphilius pagei, a new species of amphiliid catfish is described from the Cuanza River basin in Angola. It is distinguished from all other species of Amphilius by the combination of presence (vs. absence) of an epidermal fold at the base of the caudal fin, 6+7 (i,5,6,i) principal caudal-fin rays (vs.

Historical abiotic events or human-aided dispersal: inferring the evolutionary history of a newly discovered galaxiid fish.

Range expansion of obligate freshwater fishes in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa has mostly been attributed to river capture events and confluence of rivers following sea-level regression. The role of low drainage divides and interbasin water transfers has received less attention. This study analyzed mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences to assess the processes that could have influenced the phylogeographic patterns of a newly discovered lineage of Galaxias zebratus (hereafter Galaxias zebratus "Joubertina") that occurs across two currently isolated river systems close to the Joubertina area in the eastern CFR.

A new species of redfin (Teleostei, Cyprinidae, Pseudobarbus) from the Verlorenvlei River system, South Africa.

Pseudobarbusverloreni, a new species, is described from material collected in the Verlorenvlei River system on the west coast of South Africa. It differs from its congeners (except Pseudobarbusskeltoni, Pseudobarbusburchelli, and Pseudobarbusburgi) by the presence of two pairs of oral barbels. Pseudobarbusverloreni sp.

Descriptions of three new species of Marcusenius Gill, 1862 (Teleostei: Mormyridae) from South Africa and Mozambique.

Morphological and genetic studies of mormyrid fishes belonging to the genus Marcusenius from South Africa and Mozambique revealed four species of which three are described as new. Marcusenius pongolensis is widespread throughout the Incomati, Pongola and Kosi river systems, and sparsely represented in the Limpopo River system in South Africa. Marcusenius krameri sp.

Evolutionary drivers of diversification and distribution of a southern temperate stream fish assemblage: testing the role of historical isolation and spatial range expansion.

This study used phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences to investigate genetic diversity within three broadly co-distributed freshwater fish genera (Galaxias, Pseudobarbus and Sandelia) to shed some light on the processes that promoted lineage diversification and shaped geographical distribution patterns. A total of 205 sequences of Galaxias, 177 sequences of Pseudobarbus and 98 sequences of Sandelia from 146 localities across nine river systems in the south-western Cape Floristic Region (South Africa) were used. The data were analysed using phylogenetic and haplotype network methods and divergence times for the clades retrieved were estimated using *BEAST.

A new redfin species, Pseudobarbus skeltoni (Cyprinidae, Teleostei), from the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa.

A new cyprinid species, Pseudobarbus skeltoni sp. nov, is described from material recently collected in the upper Riviersonderend River (a major tributary of the Breede River system) and the Krom River (a tributary of the Molenaars River in the upper Breede River) in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. The new species is readily distinguished from congeners, except P.

Contrasting habitat associations of imperilled endemic stream fishes from a global biodiversity hot spot.

Background: Knowledge of the factors that drive species distributions provides a fundamental baseline for several areas of research including biogeography, phylogeography and biodiversity conservation. Data from 148 minimally disturbed sites across a large drainage system in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa were used to test the hypothesis that stream fishes have similar responses to environmental determinants of species distribution. Two complementary statistical approaches, boosted regression trees and hierarchical partitioning, were used to model the responses of four fish species to 11 environmental predictors, and to quantify the independent explanatory power of each predictor.

Repeated trans-watershed hybridization among haplochromine cichlids (Cichlidae) was triggered by Neogene landscape evolution.

The megadiverse haplochromine cichlid radiations of the East African lakes, famous examples of explosive speciation and adaptive radiation, are according to recent studies, introgressed by different riverine lineages. This study is based on the first comprehensive mitochondrial and nuclear DNA dataset from extensive sampling of riverine haplochromine cichlids. It includes species from the lower River Congo and Angolan (River Kwanza) drainages.

Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Pseudobarbus (Cyprinidae): shedding light on the drainage history of rivers associated with the Cape Floristic Region.

Relationships among the historically isolated lineages of Pseudobarbus were reconstructed using molecular and morphological data. Contradictions between the molecular and morphological phylogenies suggest convergent evolution and homoplasy in some morphological characters. The earliest divergence in Pseudobarbus was between P.