Long-term retention of self-fertilization in a fish clade

Among vertebrate animals, only the mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus) was known to self-fertilize. Here, we use microsatellite analyses to document a high selfing rate (97%) in a related nominal species, Kryptolebias ocellatus, which likewise is androdioecious (populations consist of males and hermaphrodites). In contrast, we find no evidence of self-fertilization in Kryptolebias caudomarginatus (an androdioecious species closely related to the marmoratus-ocellatus clade) or in Kryptolebias brasiliensis (a dioecious outgroup). These findings indicate that the initiation of self-fertilization predated the origin of the marmoratus-ocellatus clade. From mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellite data, we document a substantial genetic distance between Kryptolebias marmoratus and K. ocellatus, implying that the selfing capacity has persisted in these fishes for at least several hundred thousand years.