The Cyprinidae is the largest freshwater fish family in Vietnam, with over
220 recognised species, many of which play an important role in aquaculture
or are harvested from the wild. Despite numerous studies on the taxonomy of
this family based on traditional morphological data, the relationships
between major cyprinid groups is poorly understood and the taxonomic
validity of a number of these groups is under debate. While an increasing
number of molecular studies on cyprinid relationships have been conducted
many have used restricted sampling and none have incorporated Vietnamese
species. In this study, mitochondrial 16S rRNA, D-loop and cytochrome b gene
sequences from 25 species of cyprinids collected from Vietnam were obtained
and combined with sequences of cyprinids available in GenBank, in order to
investigate the taxonomic validity of subfamilies within Cyprinidae and
their phylogenetic relationships. The molecular data supported traditional
division of the Cyprinidae into two major lineages: Cyprinines and
Leuciscines. The placement of the Danioninae as the sister lineage to this
grouping was not supported. Many of the subfamily boundaries were questioned
and doubt was raised on some of the generic level classifications. The
validity of species designation in Cyprinus, Tor and Cyclocheilichthys was also questioned. This study
will need to be extended with greater taxon and gene sampling to further
consolidate our understanding of cyprinid relationships and classification.