A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Caesionidae (Perciformes: Lutjanoidea)

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Abstract
Hypotheses of monophyletic groups within the Caesionidae are supported by analyses of 26 qualitative (mostly osteological) and 55 quantitative characters. Alternative phylogenetic hypotheses are formulated from different subsets of these data based on different weighting and transformation assumptions. Unreversed osteological specializations support an incompletely resolved hypothesis, and quantitative characters serve to further resolve relationships. Morphological trends among the 20 species of the Caesionidae reflect increased specialization for midwater planktivory, a clear divergence in feeding mode from immediate outgroups, the subfamilies of the lutjanid snappers, which are primarily benthic carnivores.