Phylogenetic position of the genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827 based on the complete mitochondrial genome (Teleostei; Aphaniidae)

The cyprinodontid fishes belong to the order Cyprinodontiformes (Teleostei) and consisting of small fishes, which has aesthetic value, and also are important in biological control and also in ecological and bio-medicine researches. The genus Aphanius has already been in the family Cyprinodontidae but it has recently been placed in the family Aphaniidae. To evaluate the phylogenetic validity of the new family Aphaniidae in this study, seven families of the order Cyprinodontiformes were selected and their phylogenetic relationships were analyzed. The phylogenetic tree was estimated based on a data set, including the complete mitochondrial genome genes from the database as well as the complete mitochondrial genome of Aphanius farsicus as representative of the family Aphaniidae. The phylogenetic analysis indicates a close relationship between the genera Aphanius (Aphaniidae) and Cyprinodon (Cyprinodontidae) so that the group containing these two families was paraphyletic. Therefore, by considering the phylogenetic position of the genus Aphanius in the tree, the validation of the family Aphaniidae still needs more phylogenetic supports and it should be investigated by accumulating more sequences from the Aphanius species.