Abstract

The ancestral history reconstruction of fish species based on genome-wide data opens up exciting and unprecedented op-portunities to study the factors that explain the extraordinary diversity of marine fishes. The charismatic trumpetfishes, goatfishes, dragonets, sea horses, and allies, encompass a recently signed and extraordinarily diverse percomorph group—the Syngnatharia. These reef-associated species are of particular interest for marine biogeographic analyses because of their limited dispersal capabilities. Furthermore, with many of its species threatened due to bycatch and habitat alteration in trop-ical to temperate waters, Syngnatharians encompasses several potential priorities for conservation. Here, we present a new phylogenetic time tree for of 183 Syngnatharia species using 932 ultraconserved elements (UCEs), and also provide re-markable insights into their biogeographical history. Our results are widely congruent with previous phylogenetic hypothe-ses, showing a temporal association of the origin of major lineages in the wake of the K-Pg mass extinction (65 Ma). Addi-tionally, our biogeographical analysis strongly supports an Indo-Pacific origin that subsequently radiated into Eastern Afri-ca, the Red Sea, and the Eastern and Western Atlantic Ocean. All in all, we provide the most comprehensive phylogenic assessment to date for Syngnatharians and describe the surprising historical diversification patterns of this clade, the history of which involves multiple independent colonizations of Africa and the New World. This study would potentially form the basis for addressing future management and conservation efforts of the global marine reserves inhabited by myriad species of Syngnatharia.

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