Iterative taxonomy reveals a new species of Trichomycterus Valenciennes 1832 (Siluriformes,Trichomycteridae) widespread in Rio Doce basin: a pseudocryptic of T. immaculatus |
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Authors: | Vinícius J C Reis Sergio A dos Santos Marcelo R Britto Thaís de Assis Volpi Mário C C de Pinna |
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Institution: | 1. Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, 481 Av. Nazaré, São Paulo, São Paulo, 04263-000 Brazil;2. Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista s/n, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;3. Laboratório de Genética Animal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Campus de Goiabeiras, Vitória, Brazil |
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Abstract: | This paper reports on a new species of Trichomycterus from the Rio Doce basin. Unusually for new taxa in the genus during the past few decades, the new species is not narrowly endemic but instead widely distributed in its major drainage, the Rio Doce. The species has been collected and deposited in scientific collections for some years, but has been systematically misidentified as the more abundant Trichomycterus immaculatus or, to a lesser degree, as other morphologically similar species from south-eastern Brazil such as T. nigricans and T. pradensis. A combination of several morphological characteristics, such as vertebral number, pectoral-fin ray counts, pigmentation pattern and barcoding distance, were iteratively used and unambiguously distinguish the new species from all congeners. The present case reveals a pattern of diversity-discovery in which rare and narrowly endemic morphologically conspicuous species are discovered and described before visually inconspicuous taxa, even when the latter are more abundant and widespread. The morphological similarities among south-eastern Brazilian species with a uniform dark-grey color serve as basis for a brief discussion about the concepts of cryptic and pseudo-cryptic species in Trichomycterus and their consequences for potentially hidden diversity in the genus. |
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Keywords: | barcoding catfish color pattern cryptic species Neotropical Trichomycterinae |
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