Intellectual Merit - This study will develop a phylogeny and classification for the fishes of the Order Cypriniformes, the largest group of entirely freshwater fishes in the world with 3,285 described, and as many as 2,600 undescribed species. This group contains the minnows, suckers, loaches, river loaches and algae eaters. Many of these fishes have economic and scientific importance. Several large carp are an important protein source in Asia, and paradoxically, are nuisance, invasive species in North America. The zebrafish is a model organism for developmental biologists; the fathead minnow is used as an indicator species in environmental work; and goldfish are widely studied by physiologists. Many species are kept by aquarists, a hobby that has vast educational and economic impacts. Our project is international in scope with 27 collaborators, including some of the most prominent cypriniform systematists from across the globe. The group includes paleontologists, neontologists, developmental biologists, and molecular systematists. We will develop phylogenies using genomic data for a set of nuclear and mitochondrial genes, including a subset of complete mitochondrial genomes as well as morphological data from fossil and extant species.
Broader Impacts - The phylogeny, including the developmental information, will broaden the scope of work based on the zebrafish and other model species, and will produce a stable classification. We will describe new species, expanding our understanding of biodiversity. Our study has significant broader impacts beyond pure research with student education in systematics, evolution, biodiversity, development, and morphology, international collaboration, and critical information on model organisms like the zebrafish, fathead minnow, and goldfish. The prncipal and co-principal investigators reresent a diverse group of scientists at many career stages (2 of 10 are female; 2 of 10 are minorities; 2 of 10 have physical disabilities; 5 of 10 are new investigators) and come from diverse institutions (3 private universities and 4 public universities; 4 of the institutions are in EPSCoR jurisdictions). A NOVA television program will be produced and public meetings will be held. Information will be disseminated via a project web portal (http://bio.slu.edu/mayden/cypriniformes/projects.html) as well as conventional scientific publication.
