Patterns in species richness and endemism of European freshwater fish

SUMMARYThe investigation of Price & Clancy (1983), which demonstrated a significant positive correlation between total helminth species number per host species and geographical range of freshwater fish host species in Britain, was re-examined using a different measure of parasite species richness. Re-calculation of the correlations between the two parameters after controlling for the effect of the composition of the list of fish by excluding, on biological and distributional grounds, 2 species of agnathans and 7 species of introduced teleosts, and for the effect of sampling effort by using helminth richness in the richest component community of each fish species rather than check-list data, reveals no significant relationship between helminth species richness and host range. Habitat and an omnivorous host diet now appear more significant determinants of helminth richness than the accumulation of parasites by predation. The findings provide little support for the interpretation of the relationship between helminth species richness and host range in terms of island biogeographic theory, but do support an alternative explanation in terms of the colonization time hypothesis, i.e. that helminth species richness is related to the time since the fish host arrived in Britain.

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Cross–Cordillera exchange mediated by the Panama Canal increased the species richness of local freshwater fish assemblages

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2004.2796 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 271 (1551) ◽

pp. 1889-1896 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Scott A. Smith ◽

Graham Bell ◽

Eldredge Bermingham

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

Fish Assemblages ◽

Panama Canal

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Freshwater fish species richness and conservation of mountain streams in the Jinggangshan National Nature Reserve, China

eco mont (Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research) ◽

10.1553/ecomont-6-2s37 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 37-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maolin Hu ◽

Huiming Zhou ◽

Zhiqiang Wu ◽

Shan Ouyang ◽

Chunquan Chen

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

Fish Species ◽

Nature Reserve ◽

Mountain Streams ◽

Freshwater Fish Species ◽

National Nature Reserve

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Context-dependent interactions and the regulation of species richness in freshwater fish

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-018-03419-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Andrew S. MacDougall ◽

Eric Harvey ◽

Jenny L. McCune ◽

Karin A. Nilsson ◽

Joseph Bennett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

Context Dependent

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Regional versus local helminth parasite richness in British freshwater fish: saturated or unsaturated parasite communities?

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182000076289 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 109 (2) ◽

pp. 175-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

C. R. Kennedy ◽

J.-F. Guégan

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

The Other ◽

Curvilinear Relationship ◽

Introduced Fish ◽

Parasite Communities ◽

Local Species Richness ◽

Local Patterns ◽

Local Species ◽

The Relationship

SUMMARYThe relationships between regional species richness and local species richness were examined in respect of helminth parasite communities in 32 species of freshwater fish in the British Isles. Fish were divided into 5 categories, for each of which the goodness of fit of the relationship to linear, exponential and power function models was tested. For all categories of fish combined, there was a significant, positive curvilinear relationship. Nested within this were two other patterns. For introduced fish, a linear model provided the best fit; for euryhaline and relict species it was impossible to determine the best model, but for the other categories the relationship was curvilinear and was best fitted by a power function model. The linear relationship found for introduced fish was interpreted as a temporary situation, reflecting the shortage of time for the communities to become saturated. It corresponded to the linear part of the curvilinear relationship of the other categories, which is believed to represent the fundamental form of the relationship for parasite communities. The communities reached a saturation level of richness, corresponding to the asymptote of the curve, which fell well below regional species richness. Explanations for local saturation are discussed, but neither community structure nor supply-side ecology can yet be preferred. It is concluded that local patterns in helminth community richness, in contrast to those in fish assemblages, are not significantly influenced by patterns on a larger, regional spatial scale and so regional species richness is not a key determinant of local species richness, nor does a knowledge of regional patterns improve predictability of local patterns.

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Evolutionary time best explains the latitudinal diversity gradient of living freshwater fish diversity

10.1101/668079 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Christina Miller ◽

Cristian Román-Palacios

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Freshwater Fish ◽

Surface Area ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Additive Models ◽

Fish Diversity ◽

Diversification Rates ◽

Latitudinal Diversity Gradient ◽

Diversity Gradient ◽

Basin Surface

AbstractAimThe evolutionary causes of the latitudinal diversity gradient are debated. Hypotheses have ultimately invoked either faster rates of diversification in the tropics, or more time for diversification due to the tropical origins of higher taxa. Here we perform the first test of the diversification rate and time hypotheses in freshwater ray-finned fishes, a group comprising nearly a quarter of all living vertebrates.LocationGlobal.Time period368–0 mya.Major taxa studiedExtant freshwater ray-finned fishes.MethodsUsing a mega-phylogeny of actinopterygian fishes and a global database of occurrence records, we estimated net diversification rates, the number of colonizations and regional colonization times of co-occurring species in freshwater drainage basins. We used Generalized Additive Models to test whether these factors were related to latitude. We then compared the influence of diversification rates, colonization numbers, colonization times and surface area on species richness, and how these factors are related to each other.ResultsWhile both diversification rates and time were related to richness, time had greater explanatory power and was more strongly related to latitude than diversification rates. Other factors (basin surface area, number of colonizations) also helped explain richness but were unrelated to latitude. The world’s most diverse freshwater basins (Amazon, Congo rivers) were dominated by lineages with Mesozoic origins. The temperate groups dominant today arrived near the K-Pg boundary, leaving comparatively less time to build richness. Diversification rates and colonization times were inversely related: recently colonized basins had the fastest rates, while ancient species-rich faunas had slower rates.Main conclusionsWe concluded that time is the lead driver of latitudinal richness disparities in freshwater fish faunas. We suggest that the most likely path to building very high species richness is through diversification over long periods of time, rather than diversifying quickly.

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