Two new species of Varicus from Caribbean deep reefs, with comments on the related genus Pinnichthys (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Gobiosomatini, Nes subgroup).

Tropical deep reefs (~40-300 m) are diverse ecosystems that serve as habitats for diverse communities of reef-associated fishes. Deep-reef fish communities are taxonomically and ecologically distinct from those on shallow reefs, but like those on shallow reefs, they are home to a species-rich assemblage of small, cryptobenthic reef fishes, including many species from the family Gobiidae (gobies). Here we describe two new species of deep-reef gobies, Varicusprometheussp. nov. and V.roatanensissp. nov., that were collected using the submersible Idabel from rariphotic reefs off the island of Roatan (Honduras) in the Caribbean. The new species are the 11th and 12th species of the genus Varicus, and their placement in the genus is supported by morphological data and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Additionally, we also collected new specimens of the closely-related genus and species Pinnichthysaimoriensis during submersible collections off the islands of Bonaire and St. Eustatius (Netherland Antilles) and included them in this study to expand the current description of that species and document its range extension from Brazil into the Caribbean. Collectively, the two new species of Varicus and new records of P.aimoriensis add to our growing knowledge of cryptobenthic fish diversity on deep reefs of the Caribbean.

Record of the Non-native Suckermouth armored catfish hybrid Pterygoplichthys pardalis (Castelnau,1985) x Pterygoplichtys disjunctivus (Weber, 1991) (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) in Honduras.

Loricariidae is the largest catfish family, with over 1000 species and 80 genera (Fricke Eschmeyer, 2019). Sailfin catfishes of the genus Pterygoplichthys are armored catfishes, native to temperate and tropical areas of South America, especially the Amazon (Wakida-Kusunoki del Angel, 2011). Two species of this genus (Pterygoplichthys pardalis (Castelanu, 1855) and P. disjunctivus (Weber, 1991)) are naturally distributed in South America along the lower, middle and upper basin of the entire Amazon River (Wakida-Kusunoki del Angel, 2008). These armored catfishes, typified by the presence of ossified plates through the body, are considered very successful invaders of rivers and lakes outside their natural range. Their invasion success has been attributed to their morphology, behavior and life history. For instance, their ability to withstand droughts and cold weather by using burrows in river and lake banks they can survive in the moist habitat even when water levels decrease below the opening of the burrows, these survival characteristics of harsh conditions enable them to thrive in native and non-native grounds (Burgess 1989; Hoover Killgore 2004; Nico Martin 2001; Sandoval-Huerta et al. 2012). Furthermore, their rapid growth during their first years of life, their reproductive traits such as an extended reproductive period, high egg yield (Rueda-Jasso et al. 2013), and the capability of achieving reproductive maturity at smaller size (Wei et al. 2017) allow introduced populations to become abundant in a short period of time.

An insular record of the Mayan cichlid Mayaheros urophthalmus (Günther, 1862) (Cichliformes: Cichlidae) on an island 70 km offshore in the Honduran Caribbean.

Here we report the first record of the Mayan cichlid, Mayaheros urophthalmus, occurring on an offshore island 70 km from the mainland, the most distant record from the mainland to date. Specimens were collected during several ichthyological surveys on the island of Guanaja, Honduras in November 2019. Mayan cichlids are euryhaline fishes that perform very well in fresh, brackish and marine waters. It has been hypothesized that their high tolerance to salinity and potential of using costal waterways has facilitated the colonization and expansion of M. urophthalmus.