651 Abstract — Intergeneric hybridization betwt'i'n the epinephcline sorranids Ce-phalopholis fulva and Parnrilhiaa fur-cifcr in waters off Bermuda was inves-tigated by using morphological and molecular characters. Putative hybrids, as well as members of each presumed parent species, were analyzed for 44 morphological characters and screened for genetic variation at 16 nuclear allozyme loci, two nuclear (n)DNA loci, and three mitochondrial (mt)DNA gene regions. Four of 16 allozyme loci, cre-atine kinase iCKB'). fumarase {FH*}, isocitrate dehydrogenase UCDH-S*), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH-B*), were unique in C. fulva and P. furcifer. Restriction fragments of two nuclear DNA intron regions, an actin gene intron and the second intron in the S7 ribosomal protein gene, also exhib-ited consistent differences between the two presumed parent species. Re-striction fragments of three mtDNA regions— ND4, ATPase 6, and 12S/16S ribosomal RNA — were analyzed to identify maternal parentage of puta-tive hybrids. Both morphological data and nuclear genetic data were found to be consistent with the hypothesis that the putative hybrids were the result of interbreeding between C. fulva and P. furcifer. Mean values of 38 morphologi-cal characters were different between presumed parent species, and putative hybrids were intermediate to presumed parent species for 33 of these charac-ters. A principal component analysis of the morphological and meristic data was also consistent with hybridiza-tion between C. fulva and P. furcifer. Thirteen of 15 putative hybrids were heterozygous at all diagnostic nuclear loci, consistent with Fj hybrids. Two putative hybrids were identified as post-F, hybrids based on homozygosity at one nuclear locus each. Mitochon-drial DNA analysis showed that the maternal parent of all putative hybrid individuals was C. fulva. A survey of nuclear and mitochondrial loci of 57 C. fulva and 37 P. furcifer from Bermuda revealed no evidence of introgression between the parent species mediated by hybridization. Hybridization between two serranids, the coney (Cepholopholis fulva) and the creole-fish (Paranthias furcifer), at Bermuda* Meredith A. Bostrom Department of Fisheries Science Virginia institute of Marine Science College of William and Mary Gloucester Point Virginia 23062-1346 Present address Division of Endocnnology and Molecular Medicine University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucl<y 40536-0001 Bruce B. Collette National Systematics Laboratory National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA National Museum of Natural History Washington DC 20560-0153 Brian E. Luckhurst Division of Fishenes Department of Agriculture and Fishenes Crawl CR BX, Bermuda Kimberly S. Reece John E. Graves Department of Fishenes Science Virginia Institute of Manne Science College of William and Mary Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 1346 E-mail address (for J E Graves, contact autfior) graves'qivims edu Manuscript accepted 25 March 2002. Fish. Bull. 100141:651-661 (2002). Poey (1860, 1875) describeti the genus Menephorus for two species, M. dubius Poey, 1860 anci M. punctiferus Poey, 1875, each based on a single specimen of grouper that appeared to be interme-diate in morphology between the coney, Cephalopholis fulva and the creole-fish, Paranthias furcifer. Smith (1966) analyzed Poey's specimens for 45 meristic and morphometric characters and found the specimens to be interme-diate to P. furcifer and C. fulva for 40 of these characters — results consistent with intergeneric hybridization. Smith (1966) also noted that P. furcifer may be more closely related to the epineph-eline serranids (such as C. fulva) than previously thought. Interest in this possible case of intergeneric hybridiza-tion was renewed in 1993 when Bermu-dian ichthyology student James Parris Jr. asked one of the authors if he would be interested in a specimen his father caught that "had the head of a coney and the tail of a barber (creole-fish)." Since that time several other putative hybrids have been caught off Bermuda (Smith-Vaniz et al., 1999), and we have initiated a program to collect putative hybrids from local fishermen to further investigate this phenomenon. The presumed parents of the puta-tive hybrids are members of different serranid genera that have strikingly different morphologies, occupy different ecological niches, and have different be-haviors (Heemstra and Randall, 1993; Smith, 1966). The major distinguishing features of P. furcifer are its forked Contribution 2469 of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346.
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