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Freshwater fishes of the Río de la Plata: current assemblage structure

Abstract

Few studies have addressed the composition of fish assemblages of the freshwater Río de la Plata (RdlP) and have only been limited to species lists gathered over the last two centuries. As such inventories have never been reviewed or validated by fish sampling, the richness and structure of RdlP fish assemblage are poorly known. Hence, we conducted an exhaustive literature review and a fieldwork in six coastal points of Argentina to update the species composition and determine the hierarchical structure of the fish assemblage. From the 206 species registered in the literature, 48 were not confirmed, 13 were absent, five were taken as synonymized species, 29 were supported by literature and 107 were confirmed; one was an established exotic species, and three were a non-established exotic species. The findings reported here suggest that the fish assemblage currently comprises 141 species, including four new records. Analysis of fieldwork data in number and weight of fish captured resulted in an assemblage hierarchical structure of five dominant, 22 frequent, and 45 rare species; 16 dominant, 11 frequent, and 45 rare taxa, respectively. These results could be used as baseline to monitor, manage, and preserve neotropical fish species in their southern distribution boundary.

Keywords:
Biodiversity; Conservation; Ichthyofauna; Neotropics; Richness

Resumen

El conocimiento de los ensambles de peces del sector dulceacuícola del Río de la Plata (RdlP) es escaso y limitado a listas de especies de compilaciones realizadas en los últimos dos siglos. Como esos inventarios nunca han sido revisados o validados mediante muestreos de peces, el conocimiento respecto de la riqueza y la estructura de los ensambles del RdlP resulta deficiente. Para ordenar y mejorar la información acerca de la riqueza y estructura de los ensambles de peces del área se realizó una revisión bibliográfica y un muestreo de campo para actualizar la composición de especies y determinar la estructura jerárquica del ensamble de peces. De las 206 especies colectadas de acuerdo a la bibliografía 48 se categorizaron como no reconfirmadas, 13 como ausentes, cinco como especies sinonimizadas, 29 como soportadas por la literatura, 107 como confirmadas, una exótica establecida y tres exóticas no establecidas. Los resultados sugieren que el ensamble de peces actualmente está compuesto por 141 especies, incluyendo cuatro nuevos registros. El análisis de los datos en número y en peso de los peces colectados mostró 5 especies dominantes, 22 frecuentes y 45 raras; y 16 dominantes, 11 frecuentes y 45 raras, respectivamente. Los resultados de este trabajo pueden ser usados como línea de base para el monitoreo, manejo y conservación de las especies de peces neotropicales en su límite de distribución sur.

Palabras clave:
Biodiversidad; Conservación; Ictiofauna; Neotrópico; Riqueza

INTRODUCTION

Freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams are essential for human survival. Yet, they are among the most degraded habitats of the world (Dudgeon et al., 2006Dudgeon D, Arthington AH, Gessner MO, Kawabata Z-I, Knowler DJ, Lévêque C et al. Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biol Rev. 2006; 81(2):163–82. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1464793105006950
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), making freshwater species the most threatened on Earth. Alarmingly, loss of freshwater biodiversity is mounting fast (Kumar, 2000Kumar AB. Exotic fishes and freshwater fish diversity. Zoos Print J. 2000; 15(11):363–67.; Sala et al., 2000Sala OE, Chapin FS, Armesto JJ, Berlow E, Bloomfield J, Dirzo R et al. Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science. 2000; 287:1770–74. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5459.1770
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) due to anthropogenic activity such as habitat alteration, water pollution, introduction of exotic species, and overexploitation of natural resources (Dudgeon et al., 2006Dudgeon D, Arthington AH, Gessner MO, Kawabata Z-I, Knowler DJ, Lévêque C et al. Freshwater biodiversity: importance, threats, status and conservation challenges. Biol Rev. 2006; 81(2):163–82. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1464793105006950
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; Arthington et al., 2010Arthington AH, Naiman RJ, Mcclain ME, Nilsson C. Preserving the biodiversity and ecological services of rivers: new challenges and research opportunities. Freshw Biol. 2010; 55(1):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02340.x
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; Liermann et al., 2012Liermann CR, Nilsson C, Robertson J, Ng RY. Implications of dam obstruction for global freshwater fish diversity. BioScience. 2012; 62(6):539–48. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.6.5
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; Pelicice et al., 2021Pelicice FM, Bialetzki A, Camelier P, Carvalho FR, García-Berthou E, Pompeu PS et al. Human impacts and the loss of Neotropical freshwater fish diversity. Neotrop Ichthyol. 2021; 19(3):e210134. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-2021-0134
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).

Vitule et al., (2016)Vitule JRS, Costa APL, Frehse FA, Bezerra LAV, Occhi TVT, Daga VS et al. Comment on ‘Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America by Reis et al., (2016)’. J Fish Biol. 2016; 90(4):1182–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13239
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stated that loss of freshwater fish biodiversity cannot be measured simply by the number of threatened species or of species that became extinct, arguing that a decrease in freshwater fish populations, threatened or not, may drastically alter the ecosystem functioning. Moreover, research into the biological diversity of freshwater ecosystems is yet limited (Stiassny, 2002Stiassny MLJ. Revision of Sauvagella bertin (Clupeidae; Pellonulinae; Ehiravini) with a description of a new species from the freshwaters of Madagascar and diagnosis of the Ehiravini. Copeia. 2002; 2002(1):67–76. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1447925
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1447925...
). As inventories allow assessing the presence of species or infer their absence within an area (Morrison et al., 2008Morrison ML, Block WM, Strickland MD, Collier BA, Peterson MJ. Inventory and monitoring studies. In: Morrison ML, Block WM, Strickland MD, Collier BA, Peterson MJ, editors. Wildlife Study Design. New York: Springer-Verlag; 2008. p.267–312.), greater insights are required to develop the basis for measuring the biodiversity of species. Green et al., (2009)Green MJB, How R, Padmalal UKGK, Dissanayake SRB. The importance of monitoring biological diversity and its application in Sri Lanka. Trop Ecol. 2009; 50(1):41–56. Available from: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.513.3914&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/do...
claimed that inventories made from compendiums of information previously collected from an area show all the inherent limitations associated with non-quantitative methodologies. From studies of the vulnerability of freshwater fish diversity (Tedesco et al., 2017Tedesco PA, Beauchard O, Bigorne R, Blanchet S, Buisson L, Conti L et al. A global database on freshwater fish species occurrence in drainage basins. Sci Data. 2017: 4:170141. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.141
https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.141...
) derived the need to generate updated quali-quantitative ichthyological research used as a basis to evaluate species conservation and extinction risk, particularly in South America (Baigún et al., 2012Baigún CRM, Colautti D, López HL, Van Damme PA, Reis RE. Application of extinction risk and conservation criteria for assessing fish species in the lower La Plata River basin, South America. Aquat Conserv. 2012; 22(2):181–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223...
). For instance, Jaureguizar et al., (2015)Jaureguizar AJ, Cortés F, Milessi AC, Cozzolino E, Allega L. A trans-ecosystem fishery: environmental effects on the small-scale gillnet fishery along the Río de la Plata boundary. Estuarine, Coastal Shelf Sci. 2015; 166:92–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2014.11.003
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2014.11.0...
on the basis of the abundance and relative frequency of each species, typified the components of fish assemblage on the Argentinean estuarine-marine coast. Such approach had led to a thorough understanding to improve or develop integral conservation policies, strategic management decisions, and/or accurate environmental impact assessments.

The Río de la Plata (RdlP) is the collector of the La Plata River basin, the second largest watershed in South America, draining a surface of almost three million km2 (Pasquini, Depetris, 2007Pasquini AI, Depetris PJ. Discharge trends and flow dynamics of South American rivers draining the southern Atlantic seaboard: an overview. J Hydrol. 2007; 333(2–4):385–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.09.005
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.0...
) and representing the third most diverse basin of the continent with more than 900 fish taxa (Reis et al., 2016Reis RE, Albert JS, Di Dario F, Mincarone MM, Petry P, Rocha LA. Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America. J F Biol. 2016; 89(1):12–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13016
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13016...
). Although ichthyological studies have been conducted on freshwater RdlP and neighboring streams scattered on the space and time scales, most are related to governmental reports centered on the relevant species for local fisheries (CARP-INIDEP-INAPE, 1990Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero - Instituto Nacional de Pesca (CARP-INIDEP-INAPE). Informe final del Proyecto de Evaluación de los Recursos Pesqueros del Río de la Plata (Parte I) [Internet]. Mar del Plata; 1990. Available from: aquadocs.org/bitstream/handle/1834/19572/Inf.Tec.AC12.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.; CARU, 1992Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay (CARU). Publicaciones de la Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay. [Internet]. Paysandú; 1992. Available from: sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/67241/Documento_completo__.pdf-PDFA.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.; CARU-CARP, 2012Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay - Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARU-CARP). Proyecto de evaluación de los recursos ícticos del bajo río Uruguay y Río de la Plata interior. Informe de campañas de invierno 2011 y verano 2012 [Internet]. Paysandú; 2012. Available from: www.caru.org.uy/web/pdfs_publicaciones/INFORME%20FINAL%20%20CARU%20CARP%20DICIEMBRE%202012.pdf.; 2016Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay - Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARU-CARP). Proyecto de evaluación de los recursos ícticos del bajo río Uruguay y el Río de la Plata interior. Informe de la campaña de invierno 2016. [Internet]. Paysandú; 2016. Available from: www.magyp.gob.ar/sitio/areas/pesca_continental/informes/proyectos_caru/index.php.); hence, fish assemblages are still being poorly understood (Llompart et al., 2012Llompart F, Paracampo A, Solimano P, García I. Peces de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara. In: Roesler I, Agostini MG, editors. Inventario de los Vertebrados de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires: Aves Argentinas; 2012. 57–70.). According to Baigún et al., (2012)Baigún CRM, Colautti D, López HL, Van Damme PA, Reis RE. Application of extinction risk and conservation criteria for assessing fish species in the lower La Plata River basin, South America. Aquat Conserv. 2012; 22(2):181–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223...
, 26% of the fish found in the lower La Plata River basin are classified as Data Deficient (IUCN), due to lack of information on their population and distribution. RdlP is the meridional edge of the Lower Paraná Ecoregion (Abell et al., 2008Abell R, Thieme ML, Revenga C, Bryer M, Kottelat M, Bogutskaya N et al. Freshwater ecoregions of the world: a new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. Bioscience. 2008; 58(5):403–14. https://doi.org/10.1641/B580507
https://doi.org/10.1641/B580507...
), which constitutes the distribution boundary for the most representatives of freshwater Neotropical fish (Ringuelet, 1975Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
).

Bibliographic compilations describing the composition of the freshwater fish of RdlP were provided by Nion, (1998)Nion H. Peces del Río de la Plata y algunos aspectos de su ecología. In: Wells PG, Daborn GR, editors. El Río de la Plata. Una Revisión Ambiental. Un informe de Antecedentes del Proyecto EcoPlata. Halifax: Dalhoousie University; 1998. p.169–90., López et al., (2003)López HL, Miquelarena AM, Menni RC. Lista comentada de los peces continentales de la Argentina. La Plata: ProBiota, Serie Técnica y Didáctica. 2003; 5:1–86. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/15875/Revista_completa.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/hand...
, and Volpedo et al., (2010)Volpedo AV, Tombari AD, Cirelli AF. La biodiversidad de peces del río de La Plata y su relación con los cambios ambientales en los últimos 40 años. In: Reyes LF, Volpedo AV, Carrera AP, editors. Estrategias integradas de mitigacion y adaptacion a cambios globales; 2010. p.243–48., recording approximately 170 species in the area. However, one of the main issues arising from these inventories is that compilers used the exhaustive work of Ringuelet et al., (1967)Ringuelet RA, Arámburu RH, Alonso de Arámburu AS. Los peces argentinos de agua dulce. Buenos Aires: Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. 1967. as a reference. This pioneer study represents the first Argentinean fish species list based on specimens collected in field samplings and on bibliographic compilations. Over the last twenty years, extensive reviews have been made for the freshwater ichthyofauna of Argentina and Uruguay, and several species have been synonymized or disregarded as part of the fish fauna of those countries (Litz, Koerber, 2014Litz TO, Koerber S. Check list of the freshwater fishes of Uruguay (CLOFF-UY). Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2014; 28:1–40.; Koerber et al., 2016aKoerber S, Litz TO, Mirande JM. CLOFFAR-update 3-supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Argentina. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2016a; 28:1–10.,bKoerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 2- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2016b; 41:1–8.; 2020Koerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 3- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2020; 68:1–10.; Mirande, Koerber, 2020Mirande JM, Koerber S. Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Argentina (CLOFFAR). Ichthyol Contrib Peces Criollos. 2020; 72:1–08.). However, the validity of fish records, the actual number of species, their frequency of occurrence, and abundance in the area have not been reviewed nor have they been contrasted with current surveys. This indicates a need to review and updated lists of current freshwater fish living in the RdlP, based on a quantitative approach.

In addition, freshwater RdlP is subject to environmental pollution due to the large urban and industrial centers located on its coast (AA-AGOSBA-OSN-SHN, 1992Aguas Argentinas-Administración General de Obras Sanitarias de la Provincia de Buenos Aires-Servicio de Hidrografía Naval de la Armada Argentina (AA-AGOSBA-OSN-SHN). Río de La Plata. Calidad de las aguas de la franja costera sur (San Isidro - Magdalena). Buenos Aires: Servicio de Hidrografía Naval de la Armada Argentina. 1992.; FREPLATA, 2004), threatening the fish biodiversity inhabiting this ecosystem. Thus, the revision and characterization of the composition, distribution and community of fish species present in this area and their hierarchical structure within the assemblage will provide the foundation for assessing the conservation status of species, assemblages, and fisheries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study area. The RdlP system is located on the western South American Atlantic coast (35°S 58°W) and can be defined as a funnel coastal plain tidal river with a semi-closed shelf at the mouth (Baigún et al., 2016). This extensive environment is divided into two main areas by the submersed shoal known as Barra del Indio that crosses the river transversally (Fig. 1): the riverine zone (< 5 Practical Salinity Units: PSU) and the estuarine zone (> 5 PSU) (Guerrero et al., 1997Guerrero RA, Acha EM, Framiñan MB, Lasta CA. Physical oceanography of the Río de la Plata Estuary, Argentina. Cont Shelf Res. 1997; 17(7):727–42.; Baigún et al., 2016). The riverine zone is a shallow area not exceeding 5 m deep, characterized by a silty sand bottom that gradually turns to silt into the estuarine zone (Wells, Daborn, 1998Wells PG, Daborn GR. El Río de la Plata. Una revisión ambiental. Un informe de antecedentes del Proyecto EcoPlata. Nova Scotia: Halifax: Dalhoousie University; 1998.). The main tributaries of the riverine RdlP are the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, providing 97% of the freshwater inflow (Guerrero et al., 1997Guerrero RA, Acha EM, Framiñan MB, Lasta CA. Physical oceanography of the Río de la Plata Estuary, Argentina. Cont Shelf Res. 1997; 17(7):727–42.), together with several streams draining its coasts. Despite its main fluvial regime, this area also exhibits tidal influence (Balay, 1961Balay MA. El Río de la Plata entre la atmósfera y el mar. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Marina - Servicio de Hidrografía Naval. 1961.), allowing a dynamic interaction between freshwater-brackish waters that can be highly affected by the wind action (Simionato et al., 2007Simionato CG, Meccia VL, Guerrero RA, Dragani WC, Nuñez MN. The Río de la Plata estuary response to wind variability in synoptic to intra-seasonal scales: 2. Currents’ vertical structure y its implications for the salt wedge structure. J Geophys Res. 2007; 10. https://doi:10.1029/2006JC003815
https://doi:10.1029/2006JC003815...
).

From an ichthyogeographical approach, Ringuelet, (1975)Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
argued that La Plata city (Fig. 1), and its surroundings, should be considered as the boundary where most freshwater fish fauna of La Plata River basin lives, due to a pauperization of taxa related to the saline gradient towards the estuary. However, López et al., (2002López HL, Morgan CC, Montenegro MJ. Ichthyological ecoregions of Argentina. Probiota, Sér Docs. 2002; (1):1–68., 2008López HL, Menni RC, Donato M, Miquelarena AM. Biogeographical revision of Argentina (Andean and Neotropical Regions): an analysis using freshwater fishes. J Biogeogr. 2008; 35(9):1564–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01904.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008...
) extended the area of freshwater fish downstream, closer to the estuarine zone. For the present work, the study area comprised the Río de la Plata stretch from the mouth of Paraná (downstream the “Delta”) and Uruguay rivers (downstream the locality of “Punta Gorda”) to the imaginary line from La Balandra (Argentina) to Juan Lacaze (Uruguay) in opposite banks, hereinafter referred to as “freshwater RdlP” (Fig. 1). Such places were defined as limit because the last two stable freshwater fisheries of RdlP are placed in their banks, in the middle of the limits proposed by Ringuelet, (1975)Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
and López et al., (2002López HL, Morgan CC, Montenegro MJ. Ichthyological ecoregions of Argentina. Probiota, Sér Docs. 2002; (1):1–68.; 2008López HL, Menni RC, Donato M, Miquelarena AM. Biogeographical revision of Argentina (Andean and Neotropical Regions): an analysis using freshwater fishes. J Biogeogr. 2008; 35(9):1564–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01904.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008...
).

FIGURE 1 |
Division of the Río de la Plata (RdlP) by the Barra del Indio shoal, in a riverine zone and an estuarine zone (FREPLATA, 2005Proyecto Protección Ambiental del Río de la Plata y su Frente Marítimo (FREPLATA) 2004. Análisis Diagnóstico Transfronterizo del Río de la Plata y su Frente Marítimo” Proyecto PNUD/GEF/RLA/99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2005. Available from: www.gub.uy/ministerio-ambiente/politicas-y-gestion/proyecto-freplata), showing the sampled sites (black circles) and the limits of the area of freshwater RdlP considered for this study.

Literature review. Based on the list of freshwater fishes performed by López et al., (2003)López HL, Miquelarena AM, Menni RC. Lista comentada de los peces continentales de la Argentina. La Plata: ProBiota, Serie Técnica y Didáctica. 2003; 5:1–86. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/15875/Revista_completa.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/hand...
, species mentioned for the area in scientific literature, and our own fieldwork, a review of the species recorded for the freshwater RdlP was performed. The mention of each species was revised through the geographical distribution database of freshwater fishes from Argentina (Liotta, 2020Liotta J. Geographical distribution database of freshwater fishes from Argentina. Freshw Metadat J. 2020; 47:1–05. https://doi.org/10.15504/fmj.2020.47
https://doi.org/10.15504/fmj.2020.47...
). This online data source compile georeferenced information published in around 690 scientific publications on the distribution of inland fishes of the country. Furthermore, we conducted a systematic search in the Web of Science (WOS – in all fields) and Google Scholar database on Jan-2022, using the keywords: “scientific name” of each species and “rio de la Plata” (i.e., Prochilodus lineatus Río de la Plata). After these searches, around 1000 ichthyologycal documents were obtained including journal papers, governmental technical reports, books, conference presentations, and PhD theses. Then, we reviewed titles, abstracts and in many cases the full text of each document retaining only the surveys with actual fieldwork and capture location inside the delineated study area, obtaining 119 documents. The species were sorted in a list of fish species mentioned for the freshwater RdlP, following the classification of Nelson et al., (2016)Nelson JS, Grande TC, Wilson MV. Fishes of the World. New Jersy: John Wiley & Sons; 2016. and changes in taxonomy were reviewed and updated following Fricke et al., (2022)Fricke R, Eschmeyer WN, Van der Laan R. Eschmeyer’s catalog of fishes: genera, species, references [Internet]. San Francisco: California Academy of Science; 2022. Available from: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp.
http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/re...
. Each species was analyzed to confirm the number of records, defined as the number of times that the species were registered in field studies in the literature. Also, to this figure we added the species registered in our fieldwork as one more record. To solve old metadata replication from Ringuelet et al., (1967)Ringuelet RA, Arámburu RH, Alonso de Arámburu AS. Los peces argentinos de agua dulce. Buenos Aires: Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. 1967., species registered once with collection date before this work or older, and taxa without first record traceable were considered as “not confirmed”. Such timeframe in the history of ichthyological studies of RdlP was defined considering the publication date of the study of the distribution of fish species in Argentina conducted by Ringuelet et al., (1967)Ringuelet RA, Arámburu RH, Alonso de Arámburu AS. Los peces argentinos de agua dulce. Buenos Aires: Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. 1967.. The review of the list also included the analysis of species included in the last lists of freshwater fish species from Argentina (Mirande, Koerber, 2015Mirande JM, Koerber S. Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Argentina (CLOFFAR). Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2015; 36:1–68.; Koerber et al., 2016aKoerber S, Litz TO, Mirande JM. CLOFFAR-update 3-supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Argentina. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2016a; 28:1–10., 2020Koerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 3- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2020; 68:1–10.) and Uruguay (Teixeira de Mello et al., 2011Teixeira de Mello F, González-Bergonzoni I, Loureiro M. Peces de agua dulce del Uruguay. Uruguay: PPR-MGAP. 2011.; Litz, Koerber, 2014Litz TO, Koerber S. Check list of the freshwater fishes of Uruguay (CLOFF-UY). Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2014; 28:1–40.; Koerber, Litz, 2016b; Koerber et al., 2020Koerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 3- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2020; 68:1–10., 2021Koerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 4- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2021; 78:1–11.). The species previously mentioned for the study area, but not included in these lists, were categorized as “absent” for the freshwater RdlP and excluded from further analysis. In addition, species currently considered junior synonyms of other species those documented in the study area were referred to as “synonymized species”. The remaining taxa, cited for Argentina and Uruguay within the study area, were categorized based on the absence or existence of specimens in ichthyological collections as “supported by literature” or “confirmed”, respectively. The non-native species were grouped as “established exotic species” and “non-established exotic species”, following Maiztegui et al., (2016)Maiztegui T, Baigún CRM, Garcia de Souza JR, Minotti P, Colautti DC. Invasion status of the common carp Cyprinus carpio in inland waters of Argentina. J Fish Biol. 2016; 89(1):417–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13014
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13014...
, García Romero et al., (1998)García Romero N, Azpelicueta M, Almirón A, Casciotta J. Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Other exotic cyprinid in the Río de la Plata. Biogeographica. 1998; 74(4):189–91. , and Liotta, Giacosa, (2017)Liotta J, Giacosa B. Esturiones en la cuenca del Plata. Registros del periodo 1998-2016. [Internet]. Corrientes: Libro de resúmenes del V Simposio Argentino de Ictiología; 2017. Available from: www.researchgate.net/publication/320705857_Esturiones_en_la_cuenca_del_Plata_Registros_del_periodo_1998-2016..

Fieldwork. A fish sampling was carried out in freshwater RdlP at six sampling sites, along 35 km of the coastline between 34°46’56.0”S 58°00’39.9”W and 34°55’43.2”S 57°42’45.6”W (Fig. 1). Four seasonal fish samplings were performed from April 2016 to May 2017, using two fyke net with a rectangular mesh 10 x 5 mm (Colautti, 1998Colautti DC. Sobre la utilización de trampas para peces en las lagunas pampásicas. Rev Ictiol. 1998; 6(1–2):17–23.) and two trammel nets at each site, 25 m length and 1.9 m height each, with an inner mesh of 19 mm and 21 mm bar for one net, and 27 mm and 30 mm bar for the other net. The external mesh was 130 mm bar for both trammel nets. Fishing gears were arranged for one night, with a standardized effort at each site (16h). Fish were identified, counted, and weighed (g). During fieldwork, some fish were identified and released alive; others were euthanized with an overdose of benzocaine solution, fixed in 10% formaldehyde, and stored in 70% ethanol for laboratory identification. Fish were identified following Azpelicueta, Braga, (1991)Azpelicueta MM, Braga L. Los Curimátidos en Argentina. In: Castellanos ZA editor. Fauna de agua dulce de la República Argentina. La Plata: Profadu CONICET; 1991. p.1–55., López, Miquelarena, (1991)López HL, Miquelarena AM. Peces loricáridos de la cuenca del Plata, Argentina. I: El género Cochliodon Heckel, 1854 (Pisces: Siluriformes). Gayana Zoo. 1991; 55:3–11., Braga (1993, 1994), Aquino, (1997)Aquino AE. Las especies de Hypoptomatinae (Pisces, Siluriformes, Loricariidae) en la Argentina. Rev Ictiol. 1997; 5:5–21., Casciotta et al., (2005)Casciotta JR, Almirón AE, Bechara J. Peces del Ibera: Hábitat y Diversidad. Buenos Aires: Grafikar; 2005., Miquelarena, Menni, (2005)Miquelarena AM, Menni RC. Astyanax tumbayaensis, a new species from northwestern Argentina highlands (Characiformes: Characidae) with a key to the Argentinean species of the genus and comments on their distribution. Rev Suisse Zool. 2005; 112:661–76., Miquelarena et al., (2008)Miquelarena AM, Mantinian JE, López HL. Peces de la Mesopotamia Argentina (Characiformes: Characidae: Cheirodontinae). INSUGEO Miscelánea. 2008; 17:51–90., and Rosso et al., (2018)Rosso JJ, Gonzalez-Castro M, Bogan S, Cardoso YP, Mabragana E, Delpiani M et al. Integrative taxonomy reveals a new species of the Hoplias malabaricus species complex (Teleostei: Erythrinidae). Ichthyol Explor Freshw. 2018; 28:235–52.. Changes in taxonomy were reviewed and updated following Fricke et al., (2022)Fricke R, Eschmeyer WN, Van der Laan R. Eschmeyer’s catalog of fishes: genera, species, references [Internet]. San Francisco: California Academy of Science; 2022. Available from: http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp.
http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/re...
. Voucher species were deposited in the ichthyology collection of the Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Buenos Aires, Argentina (CFA-IC). In addition, species collected for the first time in the area were indicated as “new records”.

Taking into account the categories supported by literature, confirmed, established exotic species, and new records showed in the list of fish species mentioned for the freshwater RdlP, we obtained the current fish assemblage of the freshwater RdlP with their respective number of records. Meanwhile, the taxa categorized as not confirmed, absent, and synonymized species were considered as not current components.

Literature and fieldwork. Comparison and representativeness. The relative distribution of species richness within each taxonomic order was compared between the current fish assemblage from the literature and that from our fieldwork using the test of goodness fit of Kolmogorov-Smirnov (p < 0.05). In turn, we calculated the frequency distribution of species and ratio between number of species captured in our fieldwork and number of species mentioned in the literature as function of number of records.

Hierarchical structure of fish assemblage. To describe the hierarchical structure of fish species, an Olmstead-Tukey (OT) diagram (Sokal, Rohlf, 1981Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ. Taxonomic congruence in the Leptopodomorpha re-examined. Sys Zool. 1981; 30(3):309–25. https://doi.org/10.2307/2413252
https://doi.org/10.2307/2413252...
) was drawn from the fieldwork sampled area, categorizing each species as “dominant”, “frequent”, “occasional” or “rare”. Such classification was made according to the arrangement of species in a two-dimensional space defined by the percentage frequency of occurrence of species (occurrence %) and their catch per unit effort in fish number (CPUEn) and in fish weight (CPUEw). In both cases, values were standardized to 16h of fishing and, log transformed (ln X+1). The category obtained for each species was indicated in the list of fish species mentioned for the freshwater RdlP.

RESULTS

From the literature, 206 native and four exotic fish species were mentioned in freshwater RdlP (Tab. 1). From the analysis of each species, the following number by categories were defined: 48 not confirmed, 13 absent, five synonymized species, 29 supported by literature, 107 confirmed, one established exotic species, and three non-established exotic species.

A total of 28,147 individuals that weighted 912,723 g, encompassing 72 species distributed in 11 orders and 28 families were captured during fieldwork (Tab. 1). This figure represents half of the fish assemblage species reported in the literature, including four new records. These taxa, together with supported by literature, confirmed, and established exotic species categories found in the literature, define a list of 141 species that should be considered as current fish assemblage of the freshwater RdlP (Tab. 1). The remaining categories: not confirmed, absent, synonymized species, and non-established exotic species, accounted 66 taxa and were considered as not current components.

TABLE 1 |
List of fish species mentioned for the freshwater Río de la Plata (RdlP) with their taxonomic position, discriminating between species categorized as current and not current component of the fish assemblage. Number of records (N°Rec), references, and category provided after literature review (Cat.: NC, not confirmed; Ab, absent; SS, synonymized species; SL: supported by literature; Co, confirmed; NR, new records; EEx, established exotic species; NEx, non-established exotic species). The species captured in the sampling were classified according to Olmstead-Tukey (OT CPUEn and CPUEw: D, dominant; F, frequent; R, rare; O, occasional) and their voucher number (VN) in ichthyology collections. Museo de La Plata, Instituto de Limnologia, La Plata (MLP); Museo Argenino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Buenos Aires (MACN); Laboratorio de Evolución of Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo (EVP); Museu de Ciências e Tecnologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (MCP); Museo Nacional de Historia Natural y Antropologia, Zoologia, Montevideo (MHNM).

The comparison between literature and sampling taxa composition showed no differences in the relative number distribution of species by order (Kolmogorov Smirnov, D = 0.38; p = 0.29). It also showed that Siluriformes and Characiformes were equally prevalent, representing around 80% of the taxa (Fig. 2), followed by Gymnotiformes, Atheriniformes, and Clupeiformes with 4–3%. Cichliformes, Acanthuriformes, Cypriniformes, Mugiliformes, Pleuronectiformes, and Synbranchiformes ranged between 4–1%. Cyprinodontiformes and Myliobatiformes were found only in the literature, with 4% or less. Considering families, comparison evidenced that Characidae, Loricariidae, and Pimelodidae, in descending order, were the richest taxa.

FIGURE 2 |
Percentage number of species by order, literature review (black bar) differing from fieldwork (grey bar) in the freshwater Río de la Plata (RdlP).

The category supported by literature, reached the highest value for taxa with a single record, followed by confirmed taxa and new records. Based on the 141 taxa that should be considered as current fish assemblage, the number of species by number of records value (Tab.1) showed that half of these species showed three records or less in the study area, and that the remaining half were recorded up to 32 (Fig. 3). As records increased, the ratio between number of species caught in fieldwork and number of species mentioned in the literature increased, suggesting that the species most frequently cited were also those most commonly captured in the study area.

FIGURE 3 |
Number of records of each species of the current fish assemblage of the freshwater Río de la Plata (RdlP) (SL, supported by literature; NR, new records; EEx, established exotic species; Co, confirmed) with their respective number of species and ratio between number of species captured in fieldwork and number of species mentioned in the literature.

The Olmstead-Tukey quadrants for occurrence % - CPUEn (Fig. 4A) were limited by a mean frequency of occurrence of 30.67% and an average CPUE of 8 ind./16 h. Five species were dominant (6.94%), 22 frequent (30.6%) and 45 rare (62.5%) (Tab.1). Dominant species exhibited an occurrence higher than 88%, representing 90% of the total specimens collected (n = 25,311). Frequent species accounted for 8.5% of the total captured fish and rare species, representing 1.5% of the total captured specimens. While for occurrence % - CPUEw an average 264 g/16h was obtained, with 11 dominant (11.2%), 16 frequent (22.2%), and 45 rare species (62.5%) (Fig. 4B). Summed up, the group of five dominant species exhibited a CPUEw higher than 90% of the total weight collected (g = 828,531). Frequent species accounted for 6% and rare species 3.2% of the total captured biomass. Occurrence % - CPUEn and occurrence % - CPUEw analyses evidenced that Parapimelodus valenciennis (Lütken, 1874) and Pimelodus maculatus Lacepède, 1803 were dominant taxa, that no occasional species were found, and that the rare species were the same.

In turn, main differences between CPUEn and CPUEw were the hierarchy change from dominant to frequent of Psalidodon rutilus (Jenyns, 1842) and Cyphocharax platanus (Günther, 1880Günther A. A contribution to the knowledge of the fish fauna of the Rio de la Plata. Ann Mag Nat Hist. 1880; (5)6:7–13.); and the category change from frequent to dominant of Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1837), Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier, 1816), Megaleporinus obtusidens (Valenciennes 1837), Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758, Hoplias argentinensis Rosso, González-Castro, Bogan, Cardoso, Mabragaña, Delpiani & Díaz de Astarloa, 2018, Loricariichthys anus (Valenciennes, 1835), Hypostomus commersoni Valenciennes, 1836, and Pimelodus albicans (Valenciennes, 1840).

FIGURE 4 |
Olmstead-Tukey diagram showing the relationship between percentage frequency of occurrence of species (occurrence %) and log transformed (ln X+1) fish number and weight captured and standardized to 16h of fishing A. CPUEn and B. CPUEw in the freshwater Río de la Plata (RdlP), respectively. Grey lines correspond to the mean frequency of occurrence % (vertical) and average CPUEn and CPUEw (horizontal); they are used to define dominant, frequent, occasional, and rare species (categories are defined in Tab. 1). 1. Acestrorhynchus pantaneiro; 2. Ageneiosus militaris; 3. Ancistrus cirrhosis; 4. Apareiodon affinis; 5. Astyanax abramis; 6. Psalidodon erythropterus; 7. Astyanax lacustris; 8. Psalidodon rutilus; 9. Bryconamericus iheringii; 10. Brycon orbignyanus; 11. Catathyridium jenynsii; 12. Cheirodon interruptus; 13. Corydoras paleatus; 14. Cynopotamus argenteus; 15. Cyprinus carpio; 16. Cynopotamus kincaidi; 17. Cyphocharax platanus; 18. Cyphocharax saladensis; 19. Cyphocharax spilotus; 20. Cyhocharax voga; 21. Eigenmannia trilineata; 22. Eigenmannia virescens; 23. Galeocharax humeralis; 24. Gymnogeophagus meridionalis; 25. Hoplosternum littorale; 26. Hoplias argentinensis; 27. Hypostomus aspilogaster; 28. Hypostomus commersoni; 29. Hypostomus laplatae; 30. Hypostomus uruguayensis; 31. Iheringichthys labrosus; 32. Megaleporinus obtusidens; 33. Loricariichthys anus; 34. Luciopimelodus pati; 35. Lycengraulis grossidens; 36. Microglanis malabarbai; 37. Moenkhausia intermedia; 38. Mugil liza; 39. Odontesthes bonariensis; 40. Odontesthes perugiae; 41. Odontostilbe pequira; 42. Oligosarcus jenynsii; 43. Oligosarcus oligolepis; 44. Pachyurus bonariensis; 45. Parapimelodus valenciennis; 46. Paraloricaria vetula; 47. Pimelodus albicans; 48. Pimelodus argenteus; 49. Pimelodella gracilis; 50. Pimelodella laticeps; 51. Pimelodus maculatus; 52. Plagioscion ternetzi; 53. Potamorhina squamoralaevis; 54. Prochilodus lineatus; 55. Pseudoplatystoma corruscans; 56. Psectrogaster curviventris; 57. Pseudobunocephalus iheringii; 58. Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii; 59. Pterodoras granulosus; 60. Ramnogaster melanostoma; 61. Rhinodoras dorbigyi; 62. Rhamphichthys hahni; 63. Rhamdia aff. quelen; 64. Rhinelepis strigosa; 65. Rhaphiodon vulpinus; 66. Roeboides microlepis; 67. Salminus brasiliensis; 68. Schizodon platae; 69. Sorubim lima; 70. Steindachnerina biornata; 71. Synbranchus marmoratus; 72. Trachelyopterus galeatus.

DISCUSSION

The present study puts forward an updated list of fish species that inhabit the freshwater RdlP; this is also the first proposal of the hierarchical composition of its Argentinean coastal fish assemblage. From the 206 native fish mentioned in the freshwater RdlP, literature showed 66 taxa categorized as not confirmed, absent, or synonymized species. The absence of not confirmed species in fish samplings for at least five decades, when most samplings in the area were developed, does not allow confirming their current inclusion in the fish assemblage under study. Further studies on this topic are therefore needed, whose results can potentially reduce the number of species in this group. However, it is highly probable that the poor water quality and habitat conditions evidenced in freshwater RdlP due to anthropogenic activities (Topalián et al., 1990Topalián M, Loez CR, Salibian A. Metales pesados en el río Reconquista (Buenos Aires): resultados preliminares. Acta bioquím clín latinoam. 1990; 24(2):171–76.; Kurucz et al., 1998Kurucz A, Masello A, Méndez S, Cranston R, Wells PG. Calidad ambiental del Río de la Plata. In: Wells PG, Daborn GR, editors. El Río de la Plata. Una Revisión Ambiental. Un informe de Antecedentes del Proyecto EcoPlata. Halifax: Dalhoousie University; 1998. p.71–86.; Natale, 2005Natale OE. Water quality indicators for the La Plata River basin. [Internet]. UNEP, FAO, EUROSTAT, OECD. Vienna: International Work Session on Water Statistics Umweltbundesamt; 2005. Available from: Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. ; FREPLATA, 2005Proyecto Protección Ambiental del Río de la Plata y su Frente Marítimo (FREPLATA) 2004. Análisis Diagnóstico Transfronterizo del Río de la Plata y su Frente Marítimo” Proyecto PNUD/GEF/RLA/99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2005. Available from: www.gub.uy/ministerio-ambiente/politicas-y-gestion/proyecto-freplata; Cirelli, Ojeda, 2008Cirelli AF, Ojeda C. Wastewater management in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. Desalination. 2008; 218(1–3):52–61.) have been impacting negatively on the richness of the fish assemblage of the area for the last five decades or so. Indeed, the disappearance of certain species in the freshwater coastal surrounding areas of La Plata city has already been correlated with local human pollution in the 70s decade (Ringuelet, 1975Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
). As example, the nonappearance of a relevant species for fisheries in the basin, like Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887) might be associated with this situation, as suggested by Quirós, (1990)Quirós R. The Parana River Basin development and the changes in the lower basin fisheries. Interciencia. 1990; 15(6):442–51. who linked its abundance declination with human pollution. The species included in the absent and synonymized species categories, based on current taxonomic studies (Litz, Koerber, 2014Litz TO, Koerber S. Check list of the freshwater fishes of Uruguay (CLOFF-UY). Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2014; 28:1–40.; Koerber, Litz, 2014Koerber S, Litz TO. On the erroneous records of Poecilia vivipara from Argentina. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2014; 33:1–04.; Koerber et al., 2016aKoerber S, Litz TO, Mirande JM. CLOFFAR-update 3-supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Argentina. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2016a; 28:1–10.,bKoerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 2- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2016b; 41:1–8.; 2020Koerber S, Litz TO, Serra WS. CLOFFUY-update 3- supplement to Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Uruguay. Ichthyol Contrib PecesCriollos. 2020; 68:1–10.), must be excluded from the list of fish species for the area as some correspond to confirmed taxonomic misidentifications (i.e., Hypostomus robinii Valenciennes, 1840, Ancistrus gymnorhynchus Kner, 1854, and Achirus lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758)) or outdated labelling.

The 140 native species that should be considered as current fish fauna of the study area were grouped into supported by literature, confirmed, and new records, reducing the number of autochthonous species previously compiled (Nion, 1998Nion H. Peces del Río de la Plata y algunos aspectos de su ecología. In: Wells PG, Daborn GR, editors. El Río de la Plata. Una Revisión Ambiental. Un informe de Antecedentes del Proyecto EcoPlata. Halifax: Dalhoousie University; 1998. p.169–90.; López et al., 2003López HL, Miquelarena AM, Menni RC. Lista comentada de los peces continentales de la Argentina. La Plata: ProBiota, Serie Técnica y Didáctica. 2003; 5:1–86. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/15875/Revista_completa.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/hand...
; Volpedo et al., 2010Volpedo AV, Tombari AD, Cirelli AF. La biodiversidad de peces del río de La Plata y su relación con los cambios ambientales en los últimos 40 años. In: Reyes LF, Volpedo AV, Carrera AP, editors. Estrategias integradas de mitigacion y adaptacion a cambios globales; 2010. p.243–48.). Despite the historical relevance of previous compilations, our study suggests that the richness of species in freshwater RdlP is overestimated due to outdated old metadata replication. The supported by literature category refers to species that might represent misidentifications or taxa that migrate exceptionally from upper portions of the basin but do not become stablished. Either way, the lacking voucher number, making impossible to confirm their presence. This assumption is reinforced by the fact that the species in the supported by literature category were restricted to taxa recorded in five or less events, being maximum for species recorded once. Meanwhile, the confirmed group reflects species that undoubtedly are currently present in the study area. Such conclusion was based not only on the fact that these taxa were recently captured with voucher number deposit, but also on the fact that most were collected more than once. Indeed, it is highly probable that the taxa obtained two or more times, in independent fish samplings, represent usual fish fauna of the study area. However, species recently found once, as in the new records category, if not re-captured, could be re-categorized as not confirmed in subsequent research. In general, species recently captured once in the freshwater RdlP are commonly found in the upper parts of the La Plata River basin (Ringuelet, 1975Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
), possibly extending their distribution. Volpedo et al., (2010)Volpedo AV, Tombari AD, Cirelli AF. La biodiversidad de peces del río de La Plata y su relación con los cambios ambientales en los últimos 40 años. In: Reyes LF, Volpedo AV, Carrera AP, editors. Estrategias integradas de mitigacion y adaptacion a cambios globales; 2010. p.243–48. reported an increase in the number of taxa of RdlP over the last two decades owing to climate change. The referred mechanism could function as a counterpart of the effects caused by pollution and habitat modification, influencing fish assemblage composition and structure.

In the established exotic species category, the establishment and expansion of Cyprinus carpio are common in environments connected with the Río de la Plata system in Argentina and Uruguay (Teixeira de Melo et al., 2011Teixeira de Mello F, González-Bergonzoni I, Loureiro M. Peces de agua dulce del Uruguay. Uruguay: PPR-MGAP. 2011.; Maiztegui et al., 2016Maiztegui T, Baigún CRM, Garcia de Souza JR, Minotti P, Colautti DC. Invasion status of the common carp Cyprinus carpio in inland waters of Argentina. J Fish Biol. 2016; 89(1):417–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13014
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13014...
). This is reinforced by the Olmstead-Tukey analysis outcomes, indicating that this fish is frequently found in the study area. In contrast, non-established exotic species can occasionally appear in freshwater RdlP; yet, their presence is mostly due to their escape from aquaculture facilities within the basin (i.e., Acipenser baerii Brandt, 1869, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833, and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes, 1844)).

The fish fauna of La Plata River basin is mostly characterized by Siluriformes and Characiformes (Reis, 2013Reis RE. Conserving the freshwater fishes of South America. Int Zoo Yearb; 2013. 47(1):65–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12000
https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12000...
; Reis et al., 2016Reis RE, Albert JS, Di Dario F, Mincarone MM, Petry P, Rocha LA. Fish biodiversity and conservation in South America. J F Biol. 2016; 89(1):12–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13016
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13016...
), and by a decreasing gradient of species richness from the north to the south (Ringuelet, 1975Ringuelet RA. Zoogeografía y ecología de los peces de aguas continentales de la Argentina y consideraciones sobre las áreas ictiológicas de América del Sur. Ecosur, 2; 1975. Available from: http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/48003
http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/4...
; Cussac et al., 2009Cussac VE, Fernández DA, Gómez SE, López HL. Fishes of southern South America: a story driven by temperature. Fish Physiol Biochem. 2009; 35(1):29–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-008-9217-2
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-008-9217-...
). Such ichthygeographical attributes agree with the results obtained in the study area, when the number of species proposed contrasts with environments located in the northern areas of the basin (Teixeira de Melo et al., 2011Teixeira de Mello F, González-Bergonzoni I, Loureiro M. Peces de agua dulce del Uruguay. Uruguay: PPR-MGAP. 2011.; Almirón et al., 2015Almirón AE, Casciotta JR, Ciotek L, Giorgis P. Guía de los peces del Parque Nacional Pre-Delta. Buenos Aires: Administración de Parque Nacionales; 2015.; Bertaco et al., 2016Bertaco VA, Ferrer J, Carvalho FR, Malabarba LR. Inventory of the freshwater fishes from a densely collected area in South America - a case study of the current knowledge of Neotropical fish diversity. Zootaxa. 2016; 4138(3):401–40. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4138.3.1
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4138.3....
).

Although no statistical differences were found when comparing reported data with samplings, lack of Cyprinodontiformes could result from the small body size (<5 cm) of some taxa of this group common for the area, namely Jenynsia lineata (Fowler, 1940), Cnesterodon decemmaculatus (Jenyns, 1842), and Phalloceros caudimaculatus (Hensel, 1868), not captured with the fishing nets employed. The taxa of Rivulidae family includes species that inhabit coastal temporary ponds (Alonso et al., 2018Alonso F, Terán GE, Calviño P, García I, Cardoso Y, García G. An endangered new species of seasonal killifish of the genus Austrolebias (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheiloidei) from the Bermejo River basin in the Western Chacoan Region. PLoS ONE. 2018; 13(5):e0196261. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196261
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.019...
), environments not sampled in this study. The absence of Myliobatiformes in samplings can be linked to selectivity of fishing gears (Lucifora et al., 2016Lucifora LO, Barbini SA, Vegh SL, Scarabotti PA, Vargas F, Solari A et al. Geographic distribution of the short-tailed river stingray (Potamotrygon brachyura): assessing habitat loss and fishing as threats to the world’s largest obligate freshwater elasmobranch. Mar Freshw Res. 2016; 67:1463–78. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF15003
https://doi.org/10.1071/MF15003...
).

Knowledge of richness and abundance of fish species in a particular area is associated with collecting effort (Bertaco et al., 2016Bertaco VA, Ferrer J, Carvalho FR, Malabarba LR. Inventory of the freshwater fishes from a densely collected area in South America - a case study of the current knowledge of Neotropical fish diversity. Zootaxa. 2016; 4138(3):401–40. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4138.3.1
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4138.3....
); freshwater RdlP has been sampled for more than five decades by several fishing procedures. Comparison of number of records results with captured/not captured species ratio, clearly evidenced that the more the species were cited in the literature the more they were found in the samplings. Indeed, species with higher values of records, such as P. lineatus (32), S. brasiliensis (14), and Odontesthes bonariensis (Valenciennes, 1835) (14), were linked not only to their occurrence and abundance in the freshwater RdlP, but also due to their importance to local and regional fisheries of the RdlP basin (Baigún et al., 2003Baigún CRM, Sverlij SB, López HL. Recursos pesqueros y pesquerías del Río de la Plata interior y medio (Margen argentina). FREPLATA, PROYECTO PNUD/GEF/RLA 99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2003. Available from: www.ecopuerto.com/Bicentenario/informes/RecPesqRiodelaPlata.pdf; Colautti et al., 2009Colautti DC, López HL, Nadalin DO. La pesca en el sector costero del Río de la Plata entre Punta Atalaya y Punta Piedras. In: Athor J, editor. Parque Costero del Sur. Buenos Aires: Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; 2003. p.370–83.). Accordingly, these findings provide valuable insights into which species are, historically and at present, usual or unusual fish components of the study area.

The Olmstead-Tukey analysis evidenced, in agreement with the literature for the southern bank of the study area (Llompart et al., 2012Llompart F, Paracampo A, Solimano P, García I. Peces de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara. In: Roesler I, Agostini MG, editors. Inventario de los Vertebrados de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires: Aves Argentinas; 2012. 57–70.; Paracampo et al., 2015Paracampo A, García I, Mugni H, Marrochi N, Carriquiriborde P, Bonetto C. Fish assemblage of a Pampasic stream (Buenos Aires, Argentina): temporal variations and relationships with environmental variables. Stud Neotrop Fauna Environ. 2015; 50(3):145–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650521.2015.1065658
https://doi.org/10.1080/01650521.2015.10...
, 2020Paracampo A, Marrochi N, García I, Maiztegui T, Carriquiriborde P, Bonetto C et al. Fish assemblages of Pampean streams (Buenos Aires, Argentina): relationships with abiotic and anthropogenic variables. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2020; 92(2):e20190476. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020190476
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652020201...
), a predominance of P. valenciennis and P. maculatus. These findings were documented not only in coastal environments and the neighboring streams of RdlP, but also in deeper environments of the riverine sector of the RdlP (García et al., 2010García ML, Jaureguizar AJ, Protogino LC. From fresh water to the slope: fish community ecology in the Río de la Plata and the sea beyond. Lat Am J Aquat Res. 2010; 38(1):81–94. https://doi.org/10.3856/vol38-issue1-fulltext-8
https://doi.org/10.3856/vol38-issue1-ful...
; CARU-CARP, 2012Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay - Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARU-CARP). Proyecto de evaluación de los recursos ícticos del bajo río Uruguay y Río de la Plata interior. Informe de campañas de invierno 2011 y verano 2012 [Internet]. Paysandú; 2012. Available from: www.caru.org.uy/web/pdfs_publicaciones/INFORME%20FINAL%20%20CARU%20CARP%20DICIEMBRE%202012.pdf.; 2016Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay - Comisión Administradora del Río de la Plata (CARU-CARP). Proyecto de evaluación de los recursos ícticos del bajo río Uruguay y el Río de la Plata interior. Informe de la campaña de invierno 2016. [Internet]. Paysandú; 2016. Available from: www.magyp.gob.ar/sitio/areas/pesca_continental/informes/proyectos_caru/index.php.). It is important to note that, the target of coastal local artisanal and sport fisheries, P. lineatus, S. brasiliensis, M. obtusidens, Luciopimelodus pati (Valenciennes, 1835), and Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Spix & Agassiz, 1829) (Baigún et al., 2003Baigún CRM, Sverlij SB, López HL. Recursos pesqueros y pesquerías del Río de la Plata interior y medio (Margen argentina). FREPLATA, PROYECTO PNUD/GEF/RLA 99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2003. Available from: www.ecopuerto.com/Bicentenario/informes/RecPesqRiodelaPlata.pdf; Colautti et al., 2009Colautti DC, López HL, Nadalin DO. La pesca en el sector costero del Río de la Plata entre Punta Atalaya y Punta Piedras. In: Athor J, editor. Parque Costero del Sur. Buenos Aires: Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; 2003. p.370–83.) were frequent or dominant in the Olmstead-Tukey analyses. Previous research into these species showed that they displayed a seasonal migration circuit between the freshwater RdlP up to the upper main rivers of La Plata basin during southern warm and colder seasons, respectively (Baigún et al., 2003Baigún CRM, Sverlij SB, López HL. Recursos pesqueros y pesquerías del Río de la Plata interior y medio (Margen argentina). FREPLATA, PROYECTO PNUD/GEF/RLA 99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2003. Available from: www.ecopuerto.com/Bicentenario/informes/RecPesqRiodelaPlata.pdf; Espinach Ros et al., 2011Espinach Ros A, Spinetti M, Foti R, Dománico A, Sverlij S, Márquez A. Evaluación del comportamiento migratorio mediante técnicas de marcación y recaptura (Informe Anual 2009). In: CARU-DINARA-SSPyA: Programa de Conservación de la Fauna Íctica y los Recursos Pesqueros del Río Uruguay. 2011. p.158–71; Avigliano, et al., 2020Avigliano E, Pouilly M, Bouchez J, Domanico A, Sánchez S, Vegh SL et al. Strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) reveal the life history of freshwater migratory fishes in the La Plata Basin. River Res Appl. 2020; 36(10):1985–2000. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3727
https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3727...
). However, our results would support the hypothesis that certain individuals of these species do not migrate and remain in the area throughout the entire year cycle.

In the Rio de la Plata, detritus is the most important component in the food web of the system (Lercari et al., 2015Lercari D, Horta S, Martínez G, Calliari D, Bergamino L. A food web analysis of the Río de la Plata estuary and adjacent shelf ecosystem: trophic structure, biomass flows, and the role of fisheries. Hydrobiologia. 2015; 742:39–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1964-8
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1964-...
) and detritivorous species P. lineatus plays a key role in the cycling of nutrients, organic matter, and transferring energy to higher levels (Baigún et al., 2003Baigún CRM, Sverlij SB, López HL. Recursos pesqueros y pesquerías del Río de la Plata interior y medio (Margen argentina). FREPLATA, PROYECTO PNUD/GEF/RLA 99/G31 [Internet]. Montevideo; 2003. Available from: www.ecopuerto.com/Bicentenario/informes/RecPesqRiodelaPlata.pdf; Speranza et al., 2013Speranza ED, Tatone LM, Cappelletti N, Colombo JC. Cost-benefit of feeding on anthropogenic organic matter: lipid changes in a detritivorous fish (2013). Ichthyol Res. 2013; 60:334–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-013-0355-x
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-013-0355-...
). The CPUEw dominance of P. lineatus, in addition the presence of L. anus and H. commersoni which are strictly detritivorous-alguivorous taxa (Lujan et al., 2012Lujan NK, Winemiller KO, Armbruster JW. Trophic diversity in the evolution and community assembly of loricariid catfishes. BMC Evol Biol. 2012; 12(124):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-124
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-124...
), reinforce the major role of detritus and the mentioned species in the system functioning.

Among the rare species, we can mention Rhaphiodon vulpinus Spix & Agassiz, 1829 and Rhamphichthys hahni (Meinken, 1937) considered, according to Baigún et al., (2012)Baigún CRM, Colautti D, López HL, Van Damme PA, Reis RE. Application of extinction risk and conservation criteria for assessing fish species in the lower La Plata River basin, South America. Aquat Conserv. 2012; 22(2):181–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223...
, as “data deficiency” based on information of their population status. In this category, Cynopotamus kincaidi (Schultz, 1950), Hypostomus uruguayensis Reis, Weber & Malabarba, 1990, Hypostomus aspilogaster (Cope, 1894), Galeocharax humeralis (Valenciennes, 1834), and Pterodoras granulosus (Valenciennes, 1821) species were not even considered by those authors as species found in the RdlP.

In view of ecological features of the estuary might generate dissimilarities between the fish assemblage of the southern bank (Argentina) respect to the northern one (Uruguay) (Bessonart et al., 2021Bessonart J, Loureiro M, Guerrero JC, Szumik C. Distribution of freshwater fish from the Southern Neotropics reveals three new areas of endemism and show diffuse limits among freshwater ecoregions. Neotrop Ichthyol. 2021; 19(4):e200153. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-2020-0153
https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-2020-0...
), the hierarchy structure proposed could exhibit geographical restrictions. Despite such restrains, significant gaps in freshwater species knowledge (Abell et al., 2008Abell R, Thieme ML, Revenga C, Bryer M, Kottelat M, Bogutskaya N et al. Freshwater ecoregions of the world: a new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. Bioscience. 2008; 58(5):403–14. https://doi.org/10.1641/B580507
https://doi.org/10.1641/B580507...
) and data deficiency for neotropical fishes (Baigún et al., 2012Baigún CRM, Colautti D, López HL, Van Damme PA, Reis RE. Application of extinction risk and conservation criteria for assessing fish species in the lower La Plata River basin, South America. Aquat Conserv. 2012; 22(2):181–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223...
), the fish structure reported here represent a base line for future research.

Considering the negative impact experienced by South American basins as a result of the rapid anthropogenic changes introduced during the 21st century (Allan et al., 2005Allan JD, Abell R, Hogan Z, Revenga C, Taylor BW, Welcomme RL et al. Overfishing in inland waters. Bioscience. 2005; 55(12):1041–51. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[1041:OOIW]2.0.CO;2
https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2005)0...
; Barletta et al., 2010Barletta M, Jaureguizar AJ, Baigun C, Fontoura NF, Agostinho AA, Almeida-Val VMF et al. Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America: a continental overview with emphasis on neotropical systems. J Fish Biol. 2010; 76(9):2118–76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02684.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010...
; Baigún et al., 2012Baigún CRM, Colautti D, López HL, Van Damme PA, Reis RE. Application of extinction risk and conservation criteria for assessing fish species in the lower La Plata River basin, South America. Aquat Conserv. 2012; 22(2):181–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223
https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2223...
; Reis et al., 2013), the insights into the composition and structure of the fish assemblages of the freshwater RdlP provided in this study could be used as starting point to monitor and develop criteria for the management and conservation of neotropical fish species in their southernmost distribution boundary.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Roberto Jensen (ILPLA) for his assistance in data collection and field operations. The research was partially financed by PIP (CONICET, process number 0652), P-UE (22920160100049CO), and PICT 1251. This paper is a Scientific Contribution number 1196, Institute of Limnology “Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet” (ILPLA, CCT-La Plata CONICET, UNLP).

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ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

    Maiztegui T, Paracampo AH, Liotta J, Cabanellas E, Bonetto C, Colautti DC. Freshwater fishes of the Río de la Plata: current assemblage structure. Neotrop Ichthyol. 2022; 20(3):e210159. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-2021-0159

Edited-by

Franco Teixeira de Mello

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    14 Oct 2022
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    11 Nov 2021
  • Accepted
    12 July 2022
Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia Neotropical Ichthyology, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Universidade Estadual de Maringá., Av. Colombo, 5790, 87020-900, Phone number: +55 44-3011-4632 - Maringá - PR - Brazil
E-mail: neoichth@nupelia.uem.br