First timetree of Sphyraenidae (Percomorpha) reveals a Middle Eocene crown age and an Oligo-Miocene radiation of barracudas

The 27 extant species of the family Sphyraenidae represent one of the major groups of piscivorous teleost fishes in tropical and subtropical marine waters. In spite of their ecological importance, currently, no phylogenetic hypothesis is available for this group, and we do not know the tempo of evolution of this clade. In this study, we used a supermatrix approach to assemble a dataset of three mitochondrial loci for 20 sphyraenid species, and time-calibrated this new phylogeny. Our study supports the existence of three main groups of barracudas, which we labelled the “S. barracuda” group, the “S. obtusata” group and the “S. sphyraena” group. The timetree indicates a Late Paleocene age (~57 Ma) for the origin of the groups, and a Middle Eocene (~45 Ma) timing for the beginning of the radiation of extant lineages. Most extant species appear to belong to phylogenetic lineages dating to the Miocene (~5 to 23 Ma). Our study reveals multiple shifts between coral reef-associated and non-reef (usually more pelagic) habitats, as well as two independent origins of large body size within this group.