The monophyly and composition of the Asian hillstream catfish family Sisoridae (Teleostei: Siluriformes): Evidence from morphology

Abstract

This study examines the composition of the Sisoridae sensu lato (= Sisoridae + Erethistidae) and tests the following three hypotheses: (1) that the Erethistidae is a monophyletic group, (2) that the Sisoridae is a monophyletic group in the absence of the Erethistidae (i.e. that the Sisoridae sensu de Pinna is monophyletic), and (3) that the Aspredinidae is the sister group of the Erethistidae. The study was carried out using 75 morphological characters (all of which were phylogenetically informative) on 35 ingroup taxa representing the families Akysidae, Amblycipitidae, Aspredinidae, Erethistidae and Sisoridae. The results of parsimony analysis support hypothesis (1), but not hypotheses (2) and (3). The composition of the Sisoridae is therefore expanded to include members previously placed in the family Erethistidae, supporting the results of previous phylogenetic analyses utilizing only molecular characters that indicate such a placement. The phylogenetic relationships of aspredinids to other catfishes are also briefly reviewed and discussed. © 2010 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.