Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Indonesian freshwater fish Rasbora lateristriata species complex (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae): Cryptic species and west-to-east divergences

Rasbora lateristriata is a primary freshwater fish described from Java Island of Indonesia but its taxonomy, phylogeny, and distributional boundary have not been fully studied. Rasbora baliensis was described as a species endemic to Balinese lakes but its taxonomic status has been controversial in relation to R. lateristriata. Here, we collected Rasbora fishes from various freshwater localities of Java Island, as well as five neighboring islands to conduct molecular and morphological analyses on their phylogenetic relationships. Both molecular analyses using two mitochondrial and two nuclear gene sequences and morphological analyses featuring the body color pattern consistently support that the currently recognized R. lateristriata forms a species complex including at least four major lineages that possibly represent different species. In one of the major lineages, Balinese individuals cluster with those from East Javanese, Lombok and Sumbawa localities, calling for taxonomic revision on R. baliensis. The other three major lineages occur in distinct regions of central, west-central, and western Java and they can be clearly distinguished by the combination of pigmentation patterns in the basicaudal blotch and the supra anal pigment. Our molecular phylogeny suggests west-to-east divergences of the R. lateristriata species complex in Java Island from the late Miocene to Plio-Pleistocene before it finally crossed Wallace's Line, colonizing Lombok and Sumbawa Islands very recently. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.