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ECI XI
XI European Congress of Ichthyology
Symposia
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8. Integrating
approaches to Cottus diversity
Convener: Arne Nolte, Germany
arnenolte@yahoo.de
The differentiation of the genus Cottus into cryptic lineages has
received a lot of attention during the last decade. Especially the
advance of molecular techniques has shown that Cottus has a high
diversity with deeply split lineages. However, the recent focus on
genetic diversity has failed to integrate additional information that
would allow to appreciate how these lineages differ beyond neutral
genetic markers. Evolutionary research continues to stress the
importance of adaptive differentiation in generating biological
diversity, but little is known about its relevance in the divergence of
Cottus lineages. This symposium should contribute to our knowledge
about the biological processes, which create lineages of Cottus and to
unravel how the current diversity has evolved. The scope of this
symposium is clearly to integrate data in a multidisciplinary approach.
The following topics are of special interest.
1) New lineages of Cottus continue to be discovered
and diagnoses are refined. Contributions describing the search for them
as well as their limits of distribution are welcome. This should
include any level from phylogenetic analyses to studies of gene flow
between subpopulations.
2) Secondly, the discovery of each of these lineages
opens a new field in Cottus research. Comparative biological data
between the different lineages are urgently needed in order to identify
differences between them. Equally important are basic data, which may
serve as a reference in later studies.
3) Studies that identify adaptive differentiation and
its relevance as they could complement the current picture inferred
from neutral genetic markers.
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