ABSTRACT
A recent expedition to headwaters of the Rio Pandeiros, a left-bank tributary of the Rio São Francisco revealed the presence of a fourth species of Hisonotus from that basin. Hisonotus devidei sp. nov. differs from congeners by the presence of conspicuous dark blotches of distinct shapes irregularly arranged along lateral and dorsal surfaces of the body and scattered throughout all fins, by possessing small plates in lateral portions of the abdomen and adjacent areas between pelvic fins without development of dermal plates and by morphometric ratios. The putative phylogenetic placement of the new species is discussed based on morphological comparisons with species of related Hypoptopomatinae genera and the Hisonotus species diversity within the Rio São Francisco Basin is compared with that of adjacent basins.
Subject(s)
Catfishes/anatomy & histology , Catfishes/classification , Animals , Biodiversity , Brazil , Ecosystem , Female , Male , Sex CharacteristicsABSTRACT
Triportheidae represents a relatively small family of characiform fishes with highly modified morphology. The relationship among characiform families is still unclear, and a phylogenetic analysis for the family including a representative number of Triportheus species has never been performed. Here, we inferred a phylogeny for 19 of the 22 species recognized for this family and two possible new Triportheus species using two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes. Our results show that (1) Triportheidae is monophyletic and a sister group of the clade consisting of the families Bryconidae and Gasteropelecidae; (2) Triportheus is monophyletic, but some species need to be reviewed and described; (3) all genera in Triportheidae, except for Agoniates originated in the period between Early Oligocene and Early Miocene; and (4) speciation in Triportheidae coincides with important geological events in South America, reinforcing the importance of time-calibrated trees to study fish evolution.
