Towards the phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic African genus Prolabeops Schultz, 1941

The small cyprinid genus Prolabeops Schultz, 1941 is restricted to the Nyong and Sanaga River systems in Cameroon. In the past, the genus had been suggested to be either a member of the Labeoninae, Torinae or the Smiliogastrinae mainly on the basis of morphological similarities, and it is nowadays considered as incertae sedis within the Cypriniformes. This study provides the first attempt to reveal the phylogenetic position of Prolabeops using molecular data. For this purpose, the authors sequenced a large fraction of the mitochondrial genome (c. 13,600 bp), including all mitochondrial protein coding genes, of two Prolabeops melanhypopterus specimens and an additional four Enteromius specimens. The large-scale phylogenetic analysis was based on an alignment including all mitochondrial protein coding genes of 902 specimens representing c. 899 cypriniform species. Prolabeops was clearly recovered within the African Smiliogastrinae, forming a weakly supported clade together with Enteromius jae, Enteromius hulstaerti and Barboides gracilis. The study data underline the urgent need of a thorough taxonomic revision of the small African barbs collectively placed in the genus Enteromius.