Abstract

Among marine fishes, the family Labridae comprises over 600 species in 82 genera displaying a broad array of anatomical and ecological adaptations across tropical and subtropical waters. Although most species of wrasses inhabit shallow-waters, a few species are found from 100 to 400 m depth, including the genus Polylepion, which comprises two species currently described (P. cruentatum and P. russelli). While Polylepion is thought to be restricted to the North and Indo-Central Pacific basins, material of the genus was recently collected in the Western Atlantic (WA) using deep-diving submersibles in Cura-çao (Curasub), Bahamas (Johnson Sea Link sub) and Honduras (Idabel sub). The new material collected substantially ex-tends the distribution of the genus, raising interesting questions about its biogeography and evolutionary history. Here, we provide a molecular phylogeny for Polylepion based on new sequence data from two species (P. cruentatum and the WA species). We sequenced eight genetic markers that were added to a previously published dataset consisting of 254 species of wrasses (including P. russelli). Our results resolve the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of the species of Polylepi-on, further supporting the molecular delineation of the undescribed WA species. Finally, we collected additional infor-mation for the WA species, including coloration, traditional morphometric measurements, and meristic data, providing un-ambiguous morphological diagnosis from its two congeners.

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