Stable species boundaries despite ten million years of hybridization in tropical eels

Julia M. I. Barth, Chrysoula Gubili, Michael Matschiner (), Ole K. Tørresen, Shun Watanabe, Bernd Egger, Yu-San Han, Eric Feunteun, Ruben Sommaruga, Robert Jehle () and Robert Schabetsberger ()
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Julia M. I. Barth: University of Basel
Chrysoula Gubili: Hellenic Agricultural Organisation-DEMETER
Michael Matschiner: University of Zurich
Ole K. Tørresen: University of Oslo
Shun Watanabe: Kindai University
Bernd Egger: University of Basel
Yu-San Han: National Taiwan University
Eric Feunteun: Sorbonne Université, Université de Caen Normandie, Université des Antilles, IRD
Ruben Sommaruga: University of Innsbruck
Robert Jehle: University of Salford
Robert Schabetsberger: University of Salzburg

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Genomic evidence is increasingly underpinning that hybridization between taxa is commonplace, challenging our views on the mechanisms that maintain their boundaries. Here, we focus on seven catadromous eel species (genus Anguilla) and use genome-wide sequence data from more than 450 individuals sampled across the tropical Indo-Pacific, morphological information, and three newly assembled draft genomes to compare contemporary patterns of hybridization with signatures of past introgression across a time-calibrated phylogeny. We show that the seven species have remained distinct for up to 10 million years and find that the current frequencies of hybridization across species pairs contrast with genomic signatures of past introgression. Based on near-complete asymmetry in the directionality of hybridization and decreasing frequencies of later-generation hybrids, we suggest cytonuclear incompatibilities, hybrid breakdown, and purifying selection as mechanisms that can support species cohesion even when hybridization has been pervasive throughout the evolutionary history of clades.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15099-x

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