RESUMEN: Las investigaciones en peces de arrecife en Honduras han sido aisladas y dispersas. Se consolidó una lista de especies de peces asociadas a los arrecifes de coral, con el objetivo de establecer una base compilada con su taxonomía actualizada. Este estudio se desarrolló entre octubre de 2017 y diciembre de 2018. Se consideró las especies potenciales incluidas en el Atlántico occidental, basadas en fuentes primarias y secundarias, así como se confirmó su presencia mediante registros catalogados publicados de revistas de revisión por pares que incluyeran Honduras. Además, se incorporó especímenes depositados en el Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. Una vez consolidada la lista, se actualizó el estado taxonómico de cada especie, con base en la literatura reciente. En total, se registraron 159 especies y 76 géneros en 32 familias. La familia con más especies fue Labrisomidae con 27 (17%). Cinco familias registraron más de 5 géneros y cuatro estuvieron representadas por más de 16 especies, equivalentes al 42% de géneros y al 51% de especies. Gobiidae estuvo representada por 10 géneros (13%) y 21 especies (13%), de las cuales dos fueron endémicas: Tigrigobius rubrigenis y Elacatinus lobeli. A su vez, Grammatidae estuvo representada con una especie endémica Lipogramma idabeli (1.8%). Las especies Diodon holocanthus y Sphoeroides testudineus representan los primeros registros catalogados para Honduras.
Palabras clave: BleniidaeBleniidae,ChaenopsidaeChaenopsidae,ClinidaeClinidae,base de datos de pecesbase de datos de peces,SerraidaeSerraidae.
ABSTRACT: Research on Honduran coral reef fish has been isolated and scattered. A list of fish species related to coral reefs was consolidated to establish a compiled database with updated taxonomy. The study was conducted between October 2017 and December 2018. Using primary and secondary sources, all potential species in the Western Atlantic were considered, and their actual presence was confirmed using catalogued records published in peer-reviewed journals that included Honduras. In addition, the specimens kept in the Museum of Natural History of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras were added. Once the list was consolidated, the taxonomic status of each species was updated based on recent literature. A total of 159 species and 76 genera were registered in 32 families. The family with the most species was Labrisomidae with 27 species (17%). Five families had more than five 5 genera registered, while four 4 were represented by more than 16 species, which is equivalent to 42% genera and 51% species. Gobiidae was represented by 10 genera (13%) and 21 species (13%), of which two 2 were endemic: Tigrigobius rubrigenis and Elacatinus lobeli. In turn, Grammatidae was represented by one endemic species Lipogramma idabeli (1.8%). The species Diodon holocanthus and Sphoeroides testudineus represent the first catalogued records for Honduras.
Keywords: Bleniidae, Chaenopsidae, Clinidae, fish database, Serranidae.
Artículo
Estado del conocimiento de los peces osteíctios asociados a los arrecifes de coral en el Caribe de Honduras, con registros catalogados
State of research of the Osteichthyes fish related to coral reefs in the Honduran Caribbean with catalogued records
Recepción: 27 Febrero 2019
Aprobación: 12 Agosto 2019
Taxonomic inventories are used to measure site diversity (Magurran, 1988). In addition, the number and/or presence of species have been adopted to compare sites (Gotelli and Colwell, 2001). Therefore, richness is fundamental in biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation biology studies (Fourriére et al. 2016). Since species can shift their distribution through time due to different factors (environmental, ecological, or anthropogenic) and taxonomy changes and new species are registered, it is important to update local inventories (Fourriére et al. 2016; Galván-Villa et al. 2016). No comprehensive checklist of Honduran coral reef fish is available; in fact, only two scientific studies have been conducted on Honduran coral reef fish (Greenfield & Johnson, 1981; Clifton & Clifton, 1998). Consequently, our objective is to generate and updated a compiled list based on the current taxonomic status of fish families related to coral reefs in the Honduran Caribbean.
The study was conducted between October 2017 and December 2018. All potential species listed for the Western Atlantic that included Honduras were considered (Floeter et al. 2008). This list was complemented with other primary and secondary sources, such as journals, catalogues, and databases (Acero, 1985; Carpenter, 2002a; Carpenter, 2002b; Robertson & Van Tassell, 2019; Eschmeyer et al. 2019; World of Register of Marine Species-WoRMS Editorial Board, 2019; Froese & Pauly, 2019). Since defining species as ‘reef fish’ is difficult (Bellwood & Wainwright, 2002; Rocha, 2003), the lists of reef fish families proposed by Thresher (1991) and Bellwood (1996) were the ones used as a criterion. After a basic list was prepared, articles were consulted to confirm records of occurrence of species in Honduras and to search for any taxonomic changes in taxa to update the list. Most species were added to the list based on reported scientific collections in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, specimens in the fish collection of the Museum of Natural History of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras at the University’s main campus (Ciudad Universitaria) (UNAH-CU) were also included. Each species listed was reviewed to ensure the correct taxonomic synonym. Nelson et al. (2016) was followed for the suprageneric classification, while Eschmeyer et al. (2019) and WoRMS (2019) were followed for the species generic and current taxonomic status. WoRMS (2019) was used when there were inconsistencies on the taxonomic classification.
The following are the most important results. Two new families were found (Chaenopsidae and Labrisomidae), which were originally considered part of another family (Clinidae). In addition, twenty-one species had changes in their taxonomy (genera and/or species) and one family had changes in one genus. Eight species were also found to be misspelled (Tables 1 and 2). Gramma linki was mentioned to occur in Central America (Colin, 1974; Starck & Colin, 1978; Acero, 1985; Smith-Vaniz & Bölhke, 1991), and Lipogramma evides, L. klayi, and Hypleurochilus aequipinnis were mentioned to occur in Honduras (Acero, 1985), as well as Clepticus parrae (= C. parrai) and Scarus isieri (=S. isierti) (Clifton & Clifton, 1998); however, there was no confirmation or catalogued records in Honduras of any of them. Clifton & Clifton (1998) erroneously assigned the specific epithet bahamensis to the genus Coralliozetus and placed this genus under Labrisomidae, although Stephens (1961) originally added it to the family Chaenopsidae together with Emblemariopsis bahamensis. In Belize and Honduras (B-H), Greenfield & Johnson (1981) published occurrences of Emblemariopsis leptocirris (first record in B-H), E. pricei (B-H), and E. signifera (B-H). Nevertheless, no data for E. bahamensis is presented for Honduras, hence, its presence needs to be confirmed in that region. On other hand, the genus Coralliozetus is represented only by one species in Belize: C. cardonae. However, it is listed in Fishbase to be in Honduras (Froese & Pauly, 2019) based on Acero (1985), who lists only one Coralliozetus species (Coralliozetus sp.) for Colombia as part of the subfamily Chaenopsinae and the family Clinidae. Accordingly, since E. bahamensis was not registered for Honduras or any other species of the genus Coralliozetus, none of them were included on this paper. As to Lucayablennius zingaro,Clifton & Clifton (1998) locate this genus as part of the family Labrisomidae. Böhlke identified Lucaya zingaro in 1957 and subsequently proposed changing it from Lucaya to Lucayablennius given Lucaya was already preoccupied (Böhlke 1958), maintaining the zingaro species type (Lucaya zingaro = Lucayablennius zingaro) and the original description of the species under the subfamily Chaenopsinae (Böhlke, 1957) (= Chaenopsidae). Therefore, the species is part of Chaenopsidae, rather than Labrisomidae. Kähsbauer (1972) reported Eupomacentrus fuscus and E. flavilatus, while Emery & Allen (1980) indicated that Eupomacentrus is a synonym of Stegastes, which historically precedes Eupomacentrus Bleeker. Consequently, the criterion followed here was Emery and Allen’s for the genus synonym. For Allen (1991), S. flaviatus is distributed throughout the eastern Pacific. Accordingly, since the identity of these specimens reported by Kähsbauer (1972) should be reviewed, S. flaviatus was not included on the list. On the other hand, Abudefduf saxatilis was classified under the family Labridae by Kähsbauer (1972), even though it belongs to Pomacentridae. Similarly, Stathmonotus sthali tekla was presented as part of the family Labrisomidae by Greenfield & Johnson (1981), although in the latest revision of the genus Stathmonotus conducted by Springer (1955) it was classified under Chaenopsidae. Given that Nelson et al. (2016), Hastings and Springer (2009), and Patzner et al. (2009) included Stathmonotus as part of Chaenopsidae, this was the criterion followed. Six species listed by Randall (1996) were confirmed since it is a recognized source, which makes their identification reliable, even though these species need catalogue records.
Even though 412 species (representing 162 genera and 40 families) were initially found from different sources, the list based on catalogue records reflects 159 species (76 genera in 32 families) (Table 3). Five families registered more than five genera, of which four were represented by more than 16 species (42% genera and 51% species). Gobiidae is represented by 10 genera (13%) and 21 species (13%), while Chaenopsidae and Serranidae are represented by 6 genera each and Labrisomidae and Blenniidae by 5. Labrisomidae is the family represented by the most species (27, 17%), followed by Gobiidae (21, 13%), Serranidae (17, 10%), Apogonidae (16, 10%), and Chaenopsidae (10, 6 %). These families represent 42% of genera and 57% of species. However, according to Floeter et al. (2008) Gobiidae and Serranidae are the most speciose families for the entire northwestern Atlantic. Gobiidae has two endemic species: Tigrigobius rubrigenis and Elacatinus lobeli, which are shared with Belize, and Grammatidae has one endemic species, Lipogramma idabeli, representing 1.8% of endemics. The paper also presents the first records for Sphoeroides testudineus (UNAH-CU 0301) and Diodon holocanthus (UNAH-CU 0302), which were collected by G.A. Cruz in 1998 in Cayos Cochinos.
Only 38% of the species, 46% of the genera, and 80% of the families mentioned in the literature were confirmed. This is not surprising. Floeter et al. (2008) only found 40 out of 48 families reported by Thresher (1991) and Bellwood (1996). Any occurrence mentioned in secondary sources regarding Honduras is based on a possible presence, if the species is reported in reefs of neighboring countries.
Most of the catalogued species (17%) belong to Labrisomidae, while most of the genera (13%) belong to Gobiidae, including two endemic species: T. rubrigenis and E. lobeli. Results show that from the 412 species, 162 genera, and 40 families believed to inhabit the reefs of Honduras, only 159 species, 76 genera, and 32 families are actually registered. The numbers obtained from secondary sources and databases could overestimate the diversity of species in Honduras. This review could also underestimate the number of species since it is not based on systematic fieldwork. Therefore, systematic sampling focused on the collection of samples for morphological and molecular records is necessary to fully document the diversity of this group of fish in Honduras.
We would like to thank Philip A. Hastings (University of California, San Diego) and Patrick Moldowan (University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) for their assistance and Brandon People (Clemson University, South Carolina) for editing this manuscript. We also thank REVMAR’s evaluation committee, and the Journal’s editor, Nidya Nova-Bustos, and translator, Elieth Salazar-Alpízar for their contributions.