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Identification key for fishes from coastal streams of the Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil

Chave de identificação para os peixes de riachos costeiros da Mata Atlântica, sudeste do Brasil

Abstract

In recent decades, current knowledge about fish from Neotropical streams has greatly increased, but is still deficient. Here we present an identification key for fishes from coastal freshwater streams from a large conservation area of Atlantic rainforest of southeastern Brazil, including 39 species. Considering that most of these species (61.2%) are endemic to the coastal streams, this identification key will be useful not only for the species recognition of the sampled area, but also for the surrounding coastal region.

Keywords:
taxonomy; endemic and endangered fishes; Neotropical streams; Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station

Resumo

Nas últimas décadas, o conhecimento acerca dos peixes de riachos neotropicais aumentou consideravelmente, mas apesar disso ainda é deficiente. Apresentamos aqui uma chave de identificação para as 39 espécies de peixes de uma grande unidade de conservação da Mata Atlântica do sudeste do Brasil. Considerando que a maioria destas espécies (61,2%) são endêmicas dos riachos costeiros, esta chave de identificação será útil não só para o reconhecimento de espécies da área amostrada, mas também da região costeira do entorno.

Palavras-chave:
taxonomia; peixes endêmicos e ameaçados; riachos neotropicais; Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins

Introduction

The Serra do Mar was formed from an uplift process during the Cretaceous, which originated a sequence of 1,000 km of mountains near the newly formed coast. Its current relief was shaped over millions of years by erosion and tectonic activities and currently covers the states of Rio de Janeiro to Santa Catarina (Oyakawa et al. 2006OYAKAWA, O.T., AKAMA, A., MAUTARI, K.C. & NOLASCO, J.C. 2006. Peixes de riachos de Mata Atlântica nas Unidades de Conservação do Vale do rio Ribeira de Iguape no Estado de São Paulo. Neotrópica, São Paulo.). The Atlantic forest is a complex biome that covers practically the entire Serra do Mar, and although human occupation has degraded 90% of its area, this biome harbors a significant part of the Brazilian biodiversity (Joly et al. 1999JOLY, C.A., AIDAR, M.P.M., KLINK, C.A., MCGRATH, D.G., MOREIRA, A.G., MOUTINHO, P., NEPSTAD, D.C., OLIVEIRA, A.A., POTT, A., RODAL, M.J.N. & SAMPAIO, E.V.S.B. 1999. Evolution of the Brazilian phytogeography classification systems: implications for biodiversity conservation. Ciência e Cultura 51(5-6):331-348); 40% of the 2,000 vertebrate species are endemic (Oyakawa et al. 2006OYAKAWA, O.T., AKAMA, A., MAUTARI, K.C. & NOLASCO, J.C. 2006. Peixes de riachos de Mata Atlântica nas Unidades de Conservação do Vale do rio Ribeira de Iguape no Estado de São Paulo. Neotrópica, São Paulo.).

In this region, there are mountain streams with clear and fast waters due to the high slope of the relief, low temperatures and high concentration of dissolved oxygen, and the lowland streams that drains the less steep coastal plain forming meanders with black, slower, turbid and acidic waters with higher temperatures, lower dissolved oxygen concentration and sandy bottom (Por 2004POR, F.D. 2004. Hidrobiologia da Juréia e da baixada do Ribeira - rios e manguezais. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. Holos, Ribeirão Preto (O.A.V. Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.51-57.). Due to the altitudinal gradient, coastal streams rise with waters typical of mountain streams that change when they reach the plains and with the proximity of the mouth in the sea (Gonçalves & Braga 2012GONÇALVES, C.S. & BRAGA, F.M.S. 2012. Changes in ichthyofauna composition along a gradient from clearwaters to blackwaters in coastal streams of Atlantic forest (southeastern Brazil) in relation to environmental variables. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 10:675-684.).

These and other habitat characteristics influence the ichthyofauna of coastal streams (Abilhoa et al. 2011ABILHOA, V., BRAGA, R.R., BORNATOWSKI, H. & VITULE, J.R.S. 2011. Fishes of the Atlantic rain forest streams: ecological patterns and conservation. In Changing diversity in changing environment. (O. Grillo, ed.). Rijeka: InTech, p. 259-282., Barrella et al. 2014BARRELLA, W., MARTINS, A.G., PETRERE Jr. M. & RAMIRES M. 2014. Fishes of the southeastern Brazil Atlantic Forest. Environ. Biol. Fish. 97(12):1367-1376., Gonçalves et al. 2015GONÇALVES, C.S., HOLT, R., CHRISTMAN, M. & CASATTI, L. 2015. Environmental and spatial influences on stream fish metacommunities in the Atlantic rainforest, southeast Brazil. In XXI Encontro Brasileiro de Ictiologia: Recife, Pernambuco. p.526-526.). The conservation of riparian forest is important since deforestation negatively impacts the survival of fish due to silting, increased sunlight incidence and decreased invertebrate fauna, among other impacts (Lorion & Kennedy 2009LORION, C.M. & KENNEDY, B.P. 2009. Relationships between deforestation, riparian forest buffers, and benthic macroinvertebrates in neotropical headwater streams. Freshwater Biol. 54(1):165-180., Leite et al. 2015LEITE, G.F.M., SILVA, F.T.C., GONÇALVES, J.F. Jr & SALLES, P. 2015. Effects of conservation status of the riparian vegetation on fish assemblage structure in neotropical headwater streams. Hydrobiologia 762(1):223-238.). This can lead to drastic consequences such as changes in reproductive and feeding behaviors of many species (Menezes et al. 2007MENEZES, N.A., WEITZMAN, S.H., OYAKAWA, O.T., LIMA, F.C.T., CASTRO, R.M.C. & WEITZMAN, M.J. 2007. Peixes de água doce da Mata Atlântica: lista preliminar das espécies e comentários sobre conservação de peixes de água doce neotropicais. São Paulo: MZUSP., Ferreira et al. 2012FERREIRA, A., PAULA, F.R., FERRAZ, S.F.B., GERHARD, P., KASHIWAQUI, E.A.L., CYRINO, J.E.P. & MARTINELLI, L.A. 2012. Riparian coverage affects diets of characids in neotropical streams. Ecol. Freshw. Fish. 21(1):12-22., Lobón-Cerviá et al. 2016LOBÓN-CERVIÁ, J., MAZZONI, R. & REZENDE, C.F. 2016. Effects of riparian forest removal on the trophic dynamics of a Neotropical stream fish assemblage. J. Fish Biol. 89(1):50-64.).

The Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station is a conservation unit on the south coast of the state of São Paulo with streams that protects several endemic species (and some endangered) of the Atlantic forest (Gonçalves & Braga 2013GONÇALVES, C.S. & BRAGA, F.M.S. 2013. Checklist of freshwater ichthyofauna from coastal streams of Juréia-Itatins reserve, southeastern Brazil. Check List 9:175-185., Gonçalves et al. 2016GONÇALVES, C.S., FERREIRA, F.C. & SILVA, A.T. 2016. Scleromystax macropterus e Mimagoniates lateralis: dois peixes de riachos de restinga ameaçados de extinção devido a perda de hábitat. Boletim SBI 16:12-15., Gonçalves & Pérez-Mayorga 2016GONÇALVES, C.S. & PÉREZ-MAYORGA, M.A. 2016. Peixes de riachos da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: estrutura e conservação. UNISANTA Bioscience Volume Especial “Juréia-Itatins” 5(1): 42-55.). Characiformes and Siluriformes are predominant, but other orders such as Cichliformes and Gobiiformes (sensuBetancur-R et al. 2017BETANCUR-R, R., WILEY, E.O., ARRATIA, G., ACERO, A., BAILLY, N., MIYA, M., LECOINTRE, G. & ORTÍ, G. 2017.Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes. BMC Evol. Biol. 17:162.), Synbranchiformes, Cyprinodontiformes, and Gymnotiformes are also present (Gonçalves & Pérez-Mayorga 2016GONÇALVES, C.S. & PÉREZ-MAYORGA, M.A. 2016. Peixes de riachos da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: estrutura e conservação. UNISANTA Bioscience Volume Especial “Juréia-Itatins” 5(1): 42-55.), as well as primarily marine families (Sabino & Silva 2004SABINO, J. & SILVA, C.P.D. 2004. História natural de peixes da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. (O.A.V. Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.230-242.). Fish occupy different stream reaches according to their feeding habits and swimming capacity, varying between rapids, marginal backwaters or position in the water column (Sabino & Silva 2004SABINO, J. & SILVA, C.P.D. 2004. História natural de peixes da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. (O.A.V. Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.230-242.). In the freshwater streams of Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, fish feed primarily on resources provided by riparian forest, such as terrestrial insects and vegetable debris (also consumed by immature forms of aquatic insects that will feed aquatic insectivorous fish), stressing the importance of legally protected areas in Atlantic forest (Gonçalves et al. 2013GONÇALVES, C.S., BRAGA, F.M.S. & CASATTI, L. 2013. Characterization of trophic structure and determination of riparian vegetation importance for fish’s diet from coastal streams of Atlantic forest. In 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation: San Jose, Costa Rica. Available at: https://atbc.confex.com/atbc/2013/webprogram/Paper2553.html. Accessed 8 May 2017.
https://atbc.confex.com/atbc/2013/webpro...
). The small size of most species of these coastal streams and the scarcity of keys can make it difficult to identify the fish of this region. The objective of this paper is to provide an identification key for fishes from coastal streams of Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station.

Material and Methods

The material used in this study was collected every three months between April 2009 and February 2010, and once in June 2013 (cf. Gonçalves & Braga 2012GONÇALVES, C.S. & BRAGA, F.M.S. 2012. Changes in ichthyofauna composition along a gradient from clearwaters to blackwaters in coastal streams of Atlantic forest (southeastern Brazil) in relation to environmental variables. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 10:675-684., 2013GONÇALVES, C.S. & BRAGA, F.M.S. 2013. Checklist of freshwater ichthyofauna from coastal streams of Juréia-Itatins reserve, southeastern Brazil. Check List 9:175-185., Gonçalves & Pérez-Mayorga 2016GONÇALVES, C.S. & PÉREZ-MAYORGA, M.A. 2016. Peixes de riachos da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: estrutura e conservação. UNISANTA Bioscience Volume Especial “Juréia-Itatins” 5(1): 42-55.) at the Juréia-Itatins reserve, an Atlantic rainforest pristine area with 79.240 ha on the south coast in the State of São Paulo, Brazil (24°18’, 24°32’ S and 47°00’, 47°30’ W). Average annual rainfall and temperature are 2,277 mm and 21.4 °C, respectively. A hot and rainy season occurs from October to April, and the less rainy season from May to September (Marques & Duleba 2004MARQUES, O.A.V. & DULEBA, W. 2004. Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. Holos, Ribeirão Preto.). Altitudes vary from sea level at alluvial plains to 1,240 m a.s.l. at steep mountains (Por 1986POR, F.D. 1986. Stream type diversity in the Atlantic lowland of the Juréia area (Subtropical Brazil). Hydrobiologia 131:39-45., Souza & Souza 2004SOUZA, C.R. de G. & SOUZA, A.P. 2004. Geologia e geomorfologia da área da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna (O.A.V Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.16-33.). Due to this, local hydrography is influenced by the different vegetation types of dense ombrophilous forest found at different elevation: black waters (rich in humic substances with pH ca. 4) drains the alluvial dense ombrophilous forest and the lowland dense ombrophilous forest (also known as restinga forest), and clear waters (nutrient poor with pH ca. 6) drains the submontane dense ombrophilous forest and the montane dense ombrophilous forest (Por 1986POR, F.D. 1986. Stream type diversity in the Atlantic lowland of the Juréia area (Subtropical Brazil). Hydrobiologia 131:39-45., Por & Lopes 1994POR, F.D. & LOPES, R.M. 1994. The streams of the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. Verh. int. Verein. Limnol. 25:1871-1875., Por 2004POR, F.D. 2004. Hidrobiologia da Juréia e da baixada do Ribeira - rios e manguezais. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. Holos, Ribeirão Preto (O.A.V. Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.51-57.). Fish were sampled at 73 locations, using electrofishing, fishing nets, traps, and sieve (Gonçalves & Pérez-Mayorga 2016GONÇALVES, C.S. & PÉREZ-MAYORGA, M.A. 2016. Peixes de riachos da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: estrutura e conservação. UNISANTA Bioscience Volume Especial “Juréia-Itatins” 5(1): 42-55.). Specimens were anesthetized with benzocaine, fixed in 10% formalin, and then kept in 70% ethanol until the analysis. Counts were taken on the left side of specimens as proposed by Fink & Weitzman (1974)FINK, W.L. & WEITZMAN, S.H. 1974. The so-called Cheirodontin fishes of Central America with descriptions of two new species (Pisces: Characidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. 172:1-46.. The identification key provided was based on easily recognizable external morphological characters in most cases. The fishes classification followed Betancur-R et al. (2017)BETANCUR-R, R., WILEY, E.O., ARRATIA, G., ACERO, A., BAILLY, N., MIYA, M., LECOINTRE, G. & ORTÍ, G. 2017.Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes. BMC Evol. Biol. 17:162.. Voucher specimens (Table 1) are deposited in the fish collections of Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP/DZSJRP), Câmpus São José do Rio Preto, and Museu de Zoologia of Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.

Table 1
The thirty-nine fish species registered in the coastal freshwater streams from Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, a large conservation area of Atlantic rainforest of southeastern Brazil. (1) endemic to the Atlantic forest (Menezes et al. 2007MENEZES, N.A., WEITZMAN, S.H., OYAKAWA, O.T., LIMA, F.C.T., CASTRO, R.M.C. & WEITZMAN, M.J. 2007. Peixes de água doce da Mata Atlântica: lista preliminar das espécies e comentários sobre conservação de peixes de água doce neotropicais. São Paulo: MZUSP.), (2) endangered fish (State Decree Nº 60.133 07/02/2014), (-) voucher not available.

Identification key for fishes from coastal streams of the Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil.

  1. 1

    Fins present, at least pectorals and anal; two opercular openings.................... 2

    • 1ʼ. Fins absent (or vestigial); a single opercular opening, ventral.................... Synbranchus aff. marmoratus (Synbranchiformes)

  2. 2

    Dorsal and caudal fins present; less than 100 branched anal fin rays.................... 3

    • 2ʼ. Dorsal and caudal fins absent; more than 200 branched anal fin rays..................... Gymnotus pantherinus (Gymnotiformes)

  3. 3

    Body naked or covered with bony plates; barbels present (sometimes small).……... 20 (Siluriformes)

    • 3ʼ. Body covered with scales; barbels absent...........................4

  4. 4

    Dorsal fin with 11 or less soft rays, i.e., not transformed into spines......................... 5

    • 4ʼ. Dorsal fin with more than 12 rays, the first normally rigid, transformed into spines ............................................ 32

  5. 5

    Scales covering the head, dorsally; premaxilla protractile, i.e., moving in front of the skull; small body size, maximum standard length less than 60 mm........................... 6 (Cyprinodontiformes)

    • 5ʼ. Scales absent in the dorsal portion of the head; premaxilla non-protractile, i.e., does not move in front of the skull; maximum standard length normally more than 70 mm.................... 9 (Characiformes)

  6. 6

    Anal fin of mature males with modified rays, i.e., transformed into a gonopodium; dorsal fin at vertical through the mid-posterior portion in flank, its longer rays never extending to the beginning of caudal fin; flank scales with chromatophores at its edges, forming a reticulated pattern.................... 7

    • 6ʼ. Anal fin of mature males with normal rays, not transformed into a gonopodium; dorsal fin posterior to the middle in flank, its larger rays extending to the beginning of caudal fin; flank scales with chromatophores uniformly distributed in their area.................... Atlantirivulus santensis (Aplocheilidae)

  7. 7

    No sexual color dimorphism, males showing the same color as females; pelvic fin of mature males anteriorly displaced, its origin located at vertical through pectoral fin origin; females with developed urogenital papilla, displaced after anal fin origin, and with spots vertically elongated in flank.................. 8 (Phalloceros)

    • 7ʼ. Conspicuous sexual color dimorphism, males more colorful than females; pelvic fin of the mature males posteriorly displaced, its origin near the anal fin origin; females without developed urogenital papilla, and normally without spot in flank........... Poecilia vivipara

  8. 8

    Female urogenital papilla approximately rectilinear along the mid-ventral line, between the anus and the base of first anal fin ray; border of the anal aperture separated from the first anal fin ray by the urogenital papilla.................. Phalloceros harpagos

    • 8ʼ. Female urogenital papilla curved to the right, laterally; border of the anal aperture in contact with the first anal fin ray or close to it................... Phalloceros reisi

  9. 9

    Jaw teeth present, even if small; humeral spot present or absent and/or spot in the caudal peduncle normally absent; when present restricted to the medial portion of the caudal peduncle........................ 10

    • 9ʼ. Jaw teeth absent; humeral spot absent, but with large spot in the caudal peduncle, relatively rounded................ Cyphocharax santacatarinae (Curimatidae)

  10. 10

    Adipose fin present; forked caudal fin............................. 11

    • 10ʼ. Adipose fin absent; rounded caudal fin.................... Hoplias cf. malabaricus (Erythrinidae)

  11. 11

    Jaw teeth with three or more cusps; lateral line with less than 40 perforated scales; small mouth, its opening does not extend until the vertical that passes through the origin of the orbit........................... 12

    • 11ʼ. Canine and conical jaw teeth; lateral line with more than 45 perforated scales; wide mouth opening, extending to the vertical through the origin of the orbit....................... Oligosarcus hepsetus (Characidae)

  12. 12

    Anal fin with less than 10 branched rays; dark band between snout and the orbit present; premaxilla with conical or tricuspid teeth....................... 13 (Characidium)

    • 12ʼ. Anal fin with more than 10 rays; dark band between snout and the orbit absent; premaxillary teeth with four or more cusps............................... 15

  13. 13

    Dark longitudinal stripe on flank with relatively irregular borders, with spots projecting dorsally and/or ventrally............................................ 14

    • 13ʼ. Dark longitudinal stripe on flank with approximately straight edge, with small spots (not covering one scale size) below the dark longitudinal stripe................…............................. Characidium schubarti

  14. 14

    Caudal and adipose fins hyaline; dark spots below the dark longitudinal stripe not extending to pelvic fin origin............................... Characidium lanei

    • 14ʼ. Caudal fin with dark spots; blackened adipose fin; dark spots below the dark longitudinal stripe extending to pelvic fin origin........................ Characidium pterostictum

  15. 15

    Lateral line complete.............................. 16

    • 15ʼ. Lateral line incomplete......................... 17

  16. 16

    Large mouth opening, extending to the vertical that passes through the nostrils origin, teeth of the inner row of the premaxillary with up to nine cusps; mature males without bony hooks in anal fin; 3-4 (mode 3) maxillary teeth............................. Deuterodon iguape

    • 16ʼ. Small mouth opening, distinctly anterior to the vertical that passes through the nostrils origin, teeth of the inner row of the premaxillary with up to seven cusps; mature males with bony hooks in anal fin; 1-3 (mode 2) maxillary teeth......................... Astyanax ribeirae

  17. 17

    Flank with a dark stripe or absent stripes; humeral blotch present......................... 18

    • 17ʼ. Flank with several black stripes, usually forming a zigzag pattern; humeral blotch absent............................ Hollandichthys multifasciatus

  18. 18

    One humeral spot; spot in caudal peduncle present...................... 19

    • 18ʼ. Two humeral spots; spot in caudal peduncle absent........................ Hyphessobrycon griemi

  19. 19

    Narrow longitudinal stripe on flank, covering less than one scale in longitudinal series; origin of the dorsal fin vertically passing before the origin of the anal fin; flank scales with reticulated pattern; anal fin with 15-22 branched rays..................... Hyphessobrycon boulengeri

    • 19ʼ. Relatively wide longitudinal stripe on flank, covering two or more longitudinal series of scales; origin of the dorsal fin distinctly posterior to the vertical that passes before the origin of the anal fin; flank scales hyaline or with sparse chromatophores; anal fin with 26-31 branched rays................................. Mimagoniates microlepis

  20. 20

    Body covered with bony plates........................... 21

    • 20ʼ. Body naked, i.e., covered by thick skin.......................... 27

  21. 21

    Body covered with two longitudinal rows of bone plates, plain (without lateral keels), subterminal mouth (not modified into a sucking disk)............................. 22 (Callichthyidae)

    • 21ʼ. Body covered with four or more longitudinal rows of bone plates, normally with small lateral keels; inferior mouth, modified into a sucking disk.............................. 24 (Loricariidae)

  22. 22

    Longitudinal stripe faded or absent on flank; blotches projecting dorsally and/or ventrally on flank; dark stripe below longitudinal stripe extending from the pelvic fin to the anal fin absent; uniformly colored head, with chromatophores uniformly scattered.................... 23

    • 22ʼ. Median dark longitudinal stripe conspicuous on flank, followed below by a narrow dark stripe extending from the pelvic fin to the anal fin; blotches projecting ventrally on flank absent; head with dark coloration, and small golden spots.......................... Scleromystax barbatus

  23. 23

    Three or four vertical dark blotches on the flank, caudal fin with dark narrow stripes............................... Scleromystax macropterus

    • 23ʼ. Blotches on flank absent, with chromatophores uniformly scattered in the caudal fin............................... Scleromystax prionotos

  24. 24

    Adipose fin absent.………..................... 25

    • 24ʼ. Adipose fin present........................... Kronichthys heylandi

  25. 25

    Caudal peduncle rounded, without conspicuous lateral keels................................ 26

    • 25ʼ. Caudal peduncle depressed, with two conspicuous lateral keels................….….... Rineloricaria sp.

  26. 26

    Pectoral girdle totally exposed, posterior portion of the supraoccipital with well-developed odontodes in adults.................... Pseudotothyris obtusa

    • 26ʼ. Pectoral girdle covered by skin, exposed only laterally, posterior portion of the supraoccipital without odontodes in adults....................... Schizolecis guntheri

  27. 27

    Gill membranes are free to each other and to the isthmus; adipose fin origin anterior to anal fin origin.................................. 28

    • 27ʼ. Gill membranes joined to each other and to the isthmus; adipose fin origin at vertical or posterior to anal fin origin........................... Genidens genidens (Ariidae)

  28. 28

    Free orbital margin, i.e., eyes not covered by skin; hyaline dorsal fin or with sparse chromatophores, evenly distributed; flank with longitudinal dark stripes.................... 29 (Heptapteridae)

    • 28ʼ. Orbital margin not free, i.e., orbital margin covered by skin; dorsal fin with conspicuous dark blotches; flank with vertical dark stripes........................ Microglanis cf. parahybae

  29. 29

    Dorsal fin origin distinctly ahead at vertical through pelvic fin origin; adipose fin not extending to caudal fin origin (free caudal peduncle dorsally)............................... 30

    • 29ʼ. Dorsal fin origin proximately at vertical through pelvic fin origin; adipose fin elongate, extending to caudal fin origin (covering the caudal peduncle area).......................... Acentronichthys leptos

  30. 30

    Maxillary barbell short, not extending to anal fin origin; flank with longitudinally conspicuous dark stripe or dorsally dark stripes; adipose fin origin at vertical through posterior base of pelvic fin.….... 31

    • 30ʼ. Maxillary barbell long, extending to anal fin origin; flank uniformly colored; adipose fin origin at vertical through middle base of pelvic fin........................... Rhamdia aff. quelen

  31. 31

    Long supraoccipital process, reaching the dorsal fin origin; longitudinal dark stripe extending at vertical through dorsal fin origin to caudal peduncle end; maxillary barbell long, surpassing the pelvic fin origin....................... Pimelodella transitoria

    • 31ʼ. Short supraoccipital process, not reaching the dorsal fin origin; longitudinal dark stripe absent; albeit with dorsal dark stripes; maxillary barbell short, not reaching the pelvic fin origin........................ Rhamdioglanis transfasciatus

  32. 32

    Single dorsal fin, i.e., undivided; lateral line divided into two portions: upper dorsal and inferior ventral............................ 33 (Cichliformes)

    • 32ʼ. Dorsal fin divided into two parts; single lateral line, undivided........................... 34

  33. 33

    Dark longitudinal stripe extending from eye to caudal peduncle; preopercular posterior margin serrated; rounded spot in the upper portion of caudal fin beginning; first gill arch without lobe in its upper portion....................... Crenicichla tingui

    • 33ʼ. Humeral spot rounded in the medial portion in flank; preopercular posterior margin smooth; dark spot in caudal fin absent; first gill arch with developed lobe................................ Geophagus brasiliensis

  34. 34

    Caudal fin not bifurcated, i.e. emarginated, truncated, tapered or rounded; yellowish brownish flank, with dark blotches or concentrated chromatophores; small sized body, less than 60 cm in total length.................................... 35 (Gobiiformes)

    • 34ʼ. Caudal fin bifurcated; silver flank, without dark blotches, and blackened lateral line; mid-sized body - ca. 70 cm in total length......................... Centropomus parallelus (Centropomidae - Incertae Sedis in Carangaria)

  35. 35

    Terminal or slightly superior mouth; free pelvic fins or with attached bases, but not forming an adhesive disk............................ 36 (Eleotridae)

    • 35ʼ. Slightly inferior mouth; pelvic fins attached by a membrane, forming an adhesive disk............................................. 37 (Gobiidae)

  36. 36

    Dark stripe below the eye extending to the dentary; 25-35 scales along longitudinal series; preopercular spine absent....................... Dormitator maculatus

    • 36ʼ. Dark stripe below the eye absent; more than 40 scales in a longitudinal series; preopercular spine present..................................... Eleotris pisonis

  37. 37

    Scales on flank beginning at the vertical through the end of the opercular bone; a pair of anterior interorbital pores present; two or three dark stripes on the nostril.….......................... 38

    • 37ʼ. Scales in the superior portion of the head extending until at vertical through preopercule; normally a single anterorbital pore; dark stripes on the nostril absent..................... Bathygobius soporator

  38. 38

    Caudal fin truncated or slightly rounded; two dark stripes between the orbit and the nostril; gill rakers present in the upper portion of the first branchial arch....................... Awaous tajasica

    • 38ʼ. Posteriorly tapered caudal fin; three dark stripes between the orbit and the nostril; gill rakers in the upper portion of the first branchial arch absent....................... Ctenogobius shufeldti

Results

Seven orders, 17 families, and 39 fish species were identified (Table 1). Siluriformes were the most representative order (five families and 13 species), followed by Characiformes (four families and 12 species), Gobiiformes (two families and five species), and Cyprinodontiformes (two families and four species). Gymnotiformes and Synbranchiformes were represented by one species, each one. Twenty-four species (61.5%) are endemic to the Atlantic forest, and three are endangered (Table 1). An identification key for fishes from coastal streams of Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station is provided.

Discussion

In recent decades, current knowledge about fish from Neotropical streams has increased but is still deficient, even in better-exploited regions as southeastern Brazil. Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station represents an important refuge for the conservation of stream fishes, especially Characidium schubarti, Scleromystax macropterus, and S. prionotos that are threatened with extinction in the state of São Paulo since 2014 (State Decree 60.133), as well as Pseudocorynopoma heterandria, Hoplias lacerdae, and Brachyhypopomus jureiae, sampled during other studies (Sabino & Silva 2004SABINO, J. & SILVA, C.P.D. 2004. História natural de peixes da Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins. In Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins: ambiente físico, flora e fauna. (O.A.V. Marques & W. Duleba, eds.). Holos, Ribeirão Preto, p.230-242., Oyakawa et al. 2006OYAKAWA, O.T., AKAMA, A., MAUTARI, K.C. & NOLASCO, J.C. 2006. Peixes de riachos de Mata Atlântica nas Unidades de Conservação do Vale do rio Ribeira de Iguape no Estado de São Paulo. Neotrópica, São Paulo.). The main threat to species found in lowland streams such as S. macropterus is the deforestation of restinga (Gonçalves et al. 2016GONÇALVES, C.S., FERREIRA, F.C. & SILVA, A.T. 2016. Scleromystax macropterus e Mimagoniates lateralis: dois peixes de riachos de restinga ameaçados de extinção devido a perda de hábitat. Boletim SBI 16:12-15.). Furthermore, the studied area has a great regional diversity of fishes, since the high diversity of aquatic environments (e.g. mountain streams with clear waters, lowland streams with black waters, and estuarine rivers with brackish waters), allows a greater diversity of species (Gonçalves & Braga 2012GONÇALVES, C.S. & BRAGA, F.M.S. 2012. Changes in ichthyofauna composition along a gradient from clearwaters to blackwaters in coastal streams of Atlantic forest (southeastern Brazil) in relation to environmental variables. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 10:675-684., Ferreira et al. 2014FERREIRA, F.C., SILVA, A.T., GONÇALVES, C.S. & PETRERE, Jr. M. 2014. Disentangling the influences of habitat structure and limnological predictors on stream fish communities of a coastal basin, southeastern Brazil. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 12(1):177-186.).

An identification key for Atlantic forest fish was published by Oyakawa et al. (2006)OYAKAWA, O.T., AKAMA, A., MAUTARI, K.C. & NOLASCO, J.C. 2006. Peixes de riachos de Mata Atlântica nas Unidades de Conservação do Vale do rio Ribeira de Iguape no Estado de São Paulo. Neotrópica, São Paulo., but only mentioned 16 of the 39 species reported by us in Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station streams. The present identification key will be useful for the recognition of species in the studied area, especially if used jointly with the color guide available online for free (Gonçalves 2014GONÇALVES, C.S. 2014. Rapid color guide to stream fish from Atlantic rainforest. The Field Museum: Chicago, IL. Available at: http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/plantguides/guideimages.asp?ID=662. Accessed 5 April 2017.
http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/plantguides/g...
), which contains 38 photos of the Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station fish. Considering that most of these species are endemic to the coastal streams, this identification key will be useful not only for the species recognition of the sampled area, but also for the surrounding coastal region.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the support from César Cestari, Ílson Prado, and Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station' staff for facilities during the fieldwork. We thank IBAMA/ICMBio (37489-1/2; 15744) and COTEC (260108-015.708/2012; 260108-000.197/2008) for licenses. CSG received grants from FAPESP (2008/55029-5, 2012/19723-0), and CAPES. MAPM is supported by the Post-Doctoral Program of IBILCE, UNESP.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    2017

History

  • Received
    10 May 2017
  • Reviewed
    07 Nov 2017
  • Accepted
    22 Nov 2017
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