Bryconops florenceae
Preserved holotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Iguanodectidae
Genus: Bryconops
Species:
B. florenceae
Binomial name
Bryconops florenceae
Oliveira, Ota, Sabaj, & Py-Daniel, 2021

Bryconops florenceae is a small freshwater fish that inhabits the rivers of South America. Comprehensive research is lacking due to B. florenceae being the most recently described of the genus, but researchers believe it to be a relatively widespread species. It is found throughout the Maroni, Mana, and Sinnamary river basins, which defines its range within Suriname and French Guiana.

Originally documented in a guide to the freshwater fishes of French Guiana published in 1996, B. florenceae was not officially named until 2021. Even in 1996, there was suspicion that it was yet unknown to science, despite resembling many of the native fish already identified.

Description

Bryconops florenceae measures from 7.55 to 9.45 cm in standard length when fully grown.[1] This places it slightly to the larger side of the genus Bryconops, though all members are of a similar size (within a roughly 3cm range).[2] Its scales are generally silvery with a touch of tan towards the dorsal region. Silver coloration is not uncommon within Bryconops.[3]

One of the features that characterizes B. florenceae is a unique caudal-fin pattern. There is an isolated blotch of dark pigment near the base of the upper lobe, and the distal regions of the fin are left pale.[1] This blotch of coloration is also seen in B. rheoruber, though there are other differences between the two; for instance, the distal regions of B. rheoruber's caudal fin are dusky, as are areas of its snout and jaw.[4]

Sexual dimorphism

Male specimens of B. florenceae are equipped with bony hooks on the rays of the anal and pelvic fins. It is unknown if these hooks are permanent, or are a feature solely seen within mating season.[1] Other members of Bryconops also display this feature.[5]

Taxonomy

There are two subgenera in the genus Bryconops: Bryconops and Creatochanes.[6] B. florenceae belongs to the former, based upon the fact that its maxillary bones lack teeth.[1] (Members of Creatochanes are characterized partially by having 1-3 teeth on either side of the maxilla.)[3] B. rheoruber, a congener of remarkable similarity, also belongs to Bryconops.[4]

Based upon significant morphological similarity and a history of synonymy, Bryconops florenceae is a candidate for the Bryconops caudomaculatus species complex,[1] though this has not been officially recognized. Other members of this species complex (along with B. caudomaculatus) include B. disruptus, B. durbini, B. collettei, and B. magoi.[7] B. rheoruber is also in consideration due to its own visual overlap with B. caudomaculatus.[4]

Prior to 2011, members of Bryconops were considered members of the family Characidae, which is of remarkable variation and has many genera incertae sedis.[8] However, research by Oliveira et al. regarding the phylogeny of various characin species prompted that Bryconops be moved to the family Iguanodectidae; it was placed there alongside the genera Iguanodectes and Piabucus.[9]

Etymology

The specific epithet "florenceae" honors Florence de Rapleye Foerderer, a man whose will left $7 million each to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Zoo, and Gallaudet University (a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students) after he passed away in 1999.[10] There was a suggestion to name B. florenceae Bryconops foerdererae, also to honor Foerderer, but speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (the language spoken throughout B. florenceae's native range) would have had remarkable difficulty pronouncing "foerdererae". Thus, "florenceae" was chosen instead.[11]

Distribution and ecology

Bryconops florenceae was originally documented from the waters of French Guiana in 1996. Its first appearance was in the book "Atlas des Poissons d'eau douce de Guyane (tome 1)", by Paul Planquette et. al., though it was not formally named at the time.[12] Therein, B. florenceae was described as a "western form" of Bryconops caudomaculatus, which is found in the Approuague and Oyapock rivers. Its current range is known to extend into Suriname, including the Sinnamary, Maroni, and Mana rivers; it demonstrates a preference for areas of strong current with rocky substrate.[1]

Though B. florenceae has not been the subject of specific dietary study, it is most likely to be an insectivore or omnivore, as is the pattern throughout its genus.[13][14]

Conservation status

Though not formally evaluated by the IUCN, the original description for B. florenceae from researchers suggests an assessment of least concern.[1] This is based upon a large native range and a lack of severe active threats to cut off any part of said range. Nonetheless, it may be the case that B. florenceae ends up as one of several Bryconops species threatened by human activity, such as illegal mining or farmland settlement.[15][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Silva-Oliveira, Cárlison; Ota, Rafaela P.; Sabaj, Mark H.; Py-Daniel, Lúcia H. Rapp (13 December 2021). "A new species of Bryconops (Characiformes: Iguanodectidae) from Atlantic coastal drainages of Suriname and French Guiana". Neotropical Ichthyology. 19 (4). doi:10.1590/1982-0224-2021-0113. S2CID 245224953. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Bryconops in FishBase. November 2022 version.
  3. 1 2 Chernoff, Barry; Machado-Allison, Antonio (31 December 2005). "Bryconops". doi:10.5281/zenodo.6265593. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 Silva-Oliveira, Cárlison; Sabaj, Mark Henry; Ota, Rafaela Priscila; Py-Daniel, Lúcia H. Rapp (6 June 2019). "Bryconops rheorubrum (Characiformes: Iguanodectidae), new species from the Rio Xingu Rapids, Brazil". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 166 (1): 1. doi:10.1635/053.166.0115. S2CID 210640024. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  5. ↑ "THE FISH FAMILIES". Field Guide to the Fishes of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Guianas, edited by Peter van der Sleen and James S. Albert, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2017, pp. 95-96. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400888801-009
  6. ↑ Silva-Oliveira, Cárlison; Canto, André Luiz C.; Ribeiro, Frank Raynner V. (30 July 2015). "Bryconops munduruku (Characiformes: Characidae), a new species of fish from the lower Tapajós River basin, Brazil". Zootaxa. 3994 (1): 133–141. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3994.1.7. PMID 26250264 – via Biotaxa.
  7. ↑ Chernoff, Barry; Machado-Allison, Antonio (13 December 2005). "Bryconops magoi and Bryconops collettei (Characiformes: Characidae), two new freshwater fish species from Venezuela, with comments on B. caudomaculatus (Günther)". Zootaxa. 1094 (1): 23. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1094.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334 – via Biotaxa.
  8. ↑ Oliveira, Claudio; Avelino, Gleisy S.; Abe, Kelly T.; Mariguela, Tatiane C.; Benine, Ricardo C.; Ortí, Guillermo; Vari, Richard P.; Corrêa e Castro, Ricardo M. (December 2011). "Phylogenetic relationships within the speciose family Characidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes) based on multilocus analysis and extensive ingroup sampling". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11 (1): 275. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-275. PMC 3190395. PMID 21943181.
  9. ↑ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Iguanodectidae Eigenmann, 1909". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  10. ↑ Scharpf, Christopher; Lazara, Kenneth J. (15 September 2020). "Order CHARACIFORMES: Families IGUANODECTIDAE, TRIPORTHEIDAE, BRYCONIDAE, CHALCEIDAE and GASTEROPELECIDAE". The ETYFish Project. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  11. ↑ Belardo, Carolyn (8 Feb 2022). "New Species Named and Described". Blog of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  12. ↑ Planquette, Paul; Philippe, Keith; Pierre-Yves, Le Bail (31 March 1996). Atlas des Poissons d'eau douce de Guyane (tome 1) (in French). Paris: Museum National D'histoire Naturelle. ISBN 2-86515-094-1. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Echevarría, Gabriela; González, Nirson (November 2018). "Fish taxonomic and functional diversity in mesohabitats of the River Kakada, Caura National Park, Venezuela". Nature Conservation Research. 3 (Suppl. 2). doi:10.24189/ncr.2018.048. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Silva, Cylene C. da; Ferreira, Efrem J. G.; Deus, Cláudia P. de (2008). "Diet of Bryconops alburnoides and B. caudomaculatus (Osteichthyes: Characiformes) in the region affected by Balbina Hydroelectric Dam (Amazon drainage, Brazil)". Neotropical Ichthyology. 6 (2): 237–242. doi:10.1590/S1679-62252008000200011. ISSN 1679-6225.
  15. ↑ Echevarría, G. 2019. Bryconops imitator. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T167775A118038685. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T167775A118038685.en. Accessed on 18 November 2022.
  16. ↑ Echevarría, G. 2019. Bryconops vibex. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T118038907A118038912. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T118038907A118038912.en. Accessed on 18 November 2022.
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