Pomacentrus (damselfishes) is one of the most characteristic groups of fishes in the Indo-Pacific coral reef. Its 77 described species exhibit a complex taxonomy with cryptic lineages across their extensive distribution. Periods of evolutionary divergences between them are very variable, and the cytogenetic events that followed their evolutionary diversification are largely unknown. In this respect, analyses of chromosomal divergence, within a phylogenetic perspective, are particularly informative regarding karyoevolutionary trends. As such, we conducted conventional cytogenetic and cytogenomic analyses in four Pomacentrus species (Pomacentrus similis, Pomacentrus auriventris, Pomacentrus moluccensis, and Pomacentrus cuneatus), through the mapping of repetitive DNA classes and transposable elements, including 18S rDNA, 5S rDNA, (CA)15, (GA)15, (CAA)10, Rex6, and U2 snDNA as markers. P. auriventris and P. similis, belonging to the Pomacentrus coelestis complex, have indistinguishable karyotypes (2n = 48; NF = 48), with a peculiar syntenic organization of ribosomal genes. On the other hand, P. moluccensis and P. cuneatus, belonging to another clade, exhibit very different karyotypes (2n = 48, NF = 86 and 92, respectively), with a large number of bi-armed chromosomes, where multiple pericentric inversions played a significant role in their karyotype organization. In this sense, different chromosomal pathways followed the phyletic diversification in the Pomacentrus genus, making possible the characterization of two well-contrasting species groups regarding their karyotype features. Despite this, pericentric inversions act as an effective postzygotic barrier in many organisms, which appear to be also the case for P. moluccensis and P. cuneatus; the extensive chromosomal similarities in the two species of P. coelestis complex suggest minor participation of chromosomal postzygotic barriers in the phyletic diversification of these species.
Keywords: damselfishes; fish cytogenetics; gene synteny; repetitive DNA; species complex.