Abstract:
Tropical deep reefs (~40-300 m) are diverse ecosystems that serve as habitats for diverse communities of reef-associated fishes. Deep-reef fish communities are taxonomically and ecologically distinct from those on shallow reefs, but like those on shallow reefs, they are home to a species-rich assemblage of small, cryptobenthic reef fishes, including many species from the family Gobiidae (gobies). Here we describe two new species of deep-reef gobies, Varicusprometheussp. nov. and V.roatanensissp. nov., that were collected using the submersible Idabel from rariphotic reefs off the island of Roatan (Honduras) in the Caribbean. The new species are the 11th and 12th species of the genus Varicus, and their placement in the genus is supported by morphological data and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Additionally, we also collected new specimens of the closely-related genus and species Pinnichthysaimoriensis during submersible collections off the islands of Bonaire and St. Eustatius (Netherland Antilles) and included them in this study to expand the current description of that species and document its range extension from Brazil into the Caribbean. Collectively, the two new species of Varicus and new records of P.aimoriensis add to our growing knowledge of cryptobenthic fish diversity on deep reefs of the Caribbean.
摘要:
热带深礁(〜40-300m)是不同的生态系统,可作为多种与珊瑚礁相关的鱼类群落的栖息地。深礁鱼类群落在分类学和生态学上与浅礁上的群落不同,但就像那些浅礁上的,它们是物种丰富的小型组合的家园,隐底栖鱼类,包括Gobiidae(虾鱼)中的许多物种。在这里,我们描述了两种新的深礁虾虎鱼,静脉曲张。11月。还有V.roatanensissp.11月。,是使用潜水器Idabel从加勒比海Roatan岛(洪都拉斯)附近的珊瑚礁中收集的。新物种是Varicus属的第11种和第12种,形态学数据和分子系统发育分析支持了它们在属中的位置。此外,我们还在博内尔岛和圣尤斯特歇斯岛(荷兰安的列斯群岛)附近的潜水收集中收集了密切相关的Pinnichthysaimoriensis属和物种的新标本,并将其纳入本研究,以扩大该物种的当前描述并记录其范围从巴西扩展到加勒比海。总的来说,两种新的Varicus和新的P.aimoriensis记录增加了我们对加勒比海深礁上隐底栖鱼类多样性的认识。