ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Evolutionary and Population Genetics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1661527
Clarifying species boundaries between bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae) and bocachico de Maracaibo (Prochilodus reticulatus) (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) using complete mitochondrial genomes
Provisionally accepted
Jonny Andrés Yepes-Blandón1,2*
Diego Almansa-Villa3
María José Benítez-Galeano3
DAIANA MIR3
Jim Hernández Rangel4
Victor J. Atencio Garcia5Ana Estrada Posada6Nélida Rodríguez-Osorio3- 1University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- 2GIOANE Grupo de Investigación en Organismos Acuáticos Nativos y Exóticos. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- 3Unidad de Genómica y Bioinformática, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, CENUR Litoral Norte, Universidad de la República, Salto, Uruguay, Salto, Uruguay
- 4Laboratorio de Investigaciones Piscícolas. Facultad Experimental de Ciencias. Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela, Zulia, Venezuela
- 5FMVZ/DCA/CINPIC, Universidad de Córdoba, Montería, Colombia, Montería, Colombia
- 6ISAGEN S.A. E.S.P, Medellín, Colombia, Medellín, Colombia
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The accurate phylogenetic distinction between Prochilodus magdalenae and Prochilodus reticulatus (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) has been hindered by overlapping morphology and limited sequence data. Previous studies, relying on partial mitochondrial markers, have even suggested that Prochilodus magdalenae and Prochilodus reticulatus might be a single species. This study presents three annotated complete mitochondrial genomes for P. reticulatus and phylogenetic analyses that contribute to resolving uncertainty around these species' boundaries. Our phylogenetic reconstructions, using both mitochondrial markers and complete mitogenomes, consistently support the segregation of P. magdalenae and P. reticulatus into distinct clades. Bayesian time-calibrated analysis estimates their divergence at approximately 6.9 mya (10.2 – 4.2 mya), coinciding with the Andean Eastern Cordillera's final uplift. This study provides essential data for future taxonomic and conservation efforts. Our findings clarify the phylogenetic relationship between these species, emphasizing the utility of complete mitogenomes and demonstrating that sequence mislabeling, probably caused by the difficulty of accurately identifying these species based on morphological characteristics, has contributed to inconsistencies in previous phylogenetic studies within the genus Prochilodus.
Keywords: Prochilodus reticulatus, Prochilodus magdalenae, Phylogenetic reconstruction, Time-calibrated analysis, mitochondrial
Received: 07 Jul 2025; Accepted: 22 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yepes-Blandón, Almansa-Villa, Benítez-Galeano, MIR, Rangel, Atencio Garcia, Estrada Posada and Rodríguez-Osorio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jonny Andrés Yepes-Blandón, jonny.yepes@udea.edu.co
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