Métodos moleculares aplicados a la conservación de la ictiofauna de la cuenca del Duero

Abstract

The low dispersal abilities of primary freshwater fish species often limits their distribution to the hydrographic basins where they are present. As a consequence, both the endemicity and the diversification of the Iberian continental ichthyofauna, and the patterns related to them, are associated with the region’s complex hydrogeomorphological history and past climatic oscillations. The complex patterns of diversification shaped by these events have given rise to a group of fishes comprised of few but highly diversified genera. An exception to this is the genus Phoxinus: only the species Phoxinus bigerri is thought to occur in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in small Cantabrian and Catalan basins, the Ebro Basin and, due to translocation, the Duero Basin.Around 70% of the genera and 30% of the species of Spain’s primary freshwater fishes are found in the Duero Basin, the greatest basin of the Iberian Peninsula. Approximately 64% of these species are classified under one of the three threatened categories of the IUCN Red List. Among them are the endangered species Achondrostoma salmantinum and Cobitis vettonica, both of which have a highly restricted distribution area. In the case of A. salmantinum, its distribution is limited to only the Duero Basin. As a result, the Duero Basin acts as an essential unit for the conservation of fish species in Spain...