A Novel Phylogeny and Revised Classification of Lanternfishes (Myctophiformes) Inferred from Analysis of Ultraconserved Elements, Protein-Coding Genes, and Morphology

In this study we used a UCE dataset to infer the phylogenetic relationships among lanternfish (Myctophiformes), and test the monophyly of currently recognized families, subfamilies, tribes, and genera. There are two currently recognized families within Myctohpiformes: Neoscopelidae (blackchins), with six species in three genera, and Myctophidae (lanternfishes), with 251 species in 33 genera. Previous phylogenetic studies of lanternfishes using either morphology, mitochondrial genomes, and nuclear and mitochondrial gene fragments (Sanger sequencing), have repeatedly hypothesized two monophyletic subfamilies within the Myctophidae: Lampanyctinae and Myctophinae. Although these two subfamilies have remained taxonomically consistent throughout previous studies, the phylogenetic relationships among tribes and genera within each subfamily have lacked corroboration. By using a large UCE dataset we hoped to increase resolution among currently enigmatic tribe and genus level lanternfish phylogenetic relationships. In this study we present a new taxonomic composition of lanternfishes based on the results of the first genome-scale phylogenetic analysis for this group.