Phylogeography of the Japanese eight-barbel loach Lefua echigonia from the Yamagata area of the Tohoku district, Japan

The Japanese eight-barbel loach Lefua echigonia, which is a freshwater fish native to Japan, is distributed from the Tohoku to Kinki districts and is divided into six regional populations according to mtDNA analysis. In this study, we investigated L. echigonia collected from several locations in Yamagata Prefecture and neighboring prefectures using mtDNA control region sequences and confirmed the spatial distribution pattern among the new regional population (Yamagata population). The new population was limited to the Mogami river system in the inland area of Yamagata Prefecture and is distinguished from other regional populations by high sequence divergences.