NSF Org:	DEB Division Of Environmental Biology
Recipient:	OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date:	January 11, 1989
Latest Amendment Date:	January 11, 1989
Award Number:	8818004
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	James E. Rodman DEB  Division Of Environmental Biology BIO  Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	January 1, 1989
End Date:	August 31, 1992 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$130,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$130,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 1989 = $130,000.00
History of Investigator:	Anthony Echelle (Principal Investigator) echelle@okstate.edu Alice Echelle (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Oklahoma State University 401 WHITEHURST HALL STILLWATER OK  US  74078-1031 (405)744-9995
Sponsor Congressional District:	03
Primary Place of Performance:	DATA NOT AVAILABLE
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	NNYDFK5FTSX9
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	Evolutionary Processes
Primary Program Source:
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s):	112700
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.074

ABSTRACT

Drs. Anthony and Alice Echelle of Oklahoma State University will use biochemical data to study the evolutionary relationships of the freshwater pupfishes of North America. The group includes the pupfishes of the genus Cyprinodon (35 species) and five small genera (1-2 species each) of related fishes. The work emphasizes the use of protein variation analyzed by electrophoresis to describe genealogical relatedness among the genera and among the 22 "inland" species of pupfish, followed by the use of mitochondrial DNA variation to describe relationships within a small subset of species, the Death Valley pupfishes and their nearest relatives. Pupfishes constitute the most diverse group of fishes in the three major warm deserts of North America: Mohave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan. The numerous desert-dwelling pupfish species and the deserts they inhabit have developed in relatively recent geological time. Thus, knowledge of phylogenetic relationships among pupfishes should provide considerable insight into the biogeography of southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The pupfishes also provide an unusual opportunity to test different modes of speciation. A number of pupfishes and the one species of the related genus Megupsilon are threatened with probable extinction in the near future. One outcome of the proposed work is to produce frozen collections of tissues for future biochemical work.

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