A review of the genus Neoconger (Anguilliformes: Moringuidae), with the description of a new species.

The genus Neoconger (family Moringuidae) is reviewed and our knowledge of it brought up to date. Six species are recognized, based on genetic and morphological information. Neoconger mucronatus Girard, 1858 occurs in the western Gulf of Mexico.

Taxonomic revision of the Ophidion holbrookii Putnam, 1874 (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae) species complex, with description of a new species from Brazil.

This study integrates morphological and molecular data to redefine the taxonomic limits of Ophidion holbrookii, as well as its geographic ranges, with the description of a new species from the eastern and southeastern coast of Brazil, South America. Ophidion zavalai n. sp.

Review of the Pareques acuminatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) species complex, with revalidation of Pareques lineatus (Cuvier, 1830) from the Western Atlantic (Percomorphacea: Sciaenidae).

Recently, different studies have revealed the existence of complexes of marine fish species of several genera from the Western Atlantic (e.g., Bagre, Peprilus, Bairdiella, Pogonias and Menticirrhus), with a correspondence between recognized species and well-established geographic areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Brazil, showing the need to improve the taxonomic knowledge of coastal fishes in the region.

Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus.

Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 comprises 13 species of the fishes popularly knows as snooks, distributed in both Atlantic and Pacific coasts of America. Despite several studies on the group, conflicting taxonomic classifications still exist, including overlapping diagnostic characters, rendering species diagnoses extremely difficult. Herein, we review the taxonomy of Centropomus to elucidate species identities, redefine their diagnoses and to assess interspecific relationships based on the examination of 376 specimens.

Taxonomic revision of the Menticirrhus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758) and M. littoralis (Holbrook, 1847) (Percomorphacea: Sciaenidae) species complexes from the western Atlantic.

The genus Menticirrhus is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, where its species are common and abundant in shallow coastal waters and estuaries. The diversity, biogeography, and evolutionary relationships of the Menticirrhus species are still poorly known, due primarily to the difficulty of differentiating the species, given the broad similarities in their external morphology. The present study is based on the analysis of morphological and molecular data, with the examination of type specimens and a comprehensive collection of non-type specimens from an ample geographic range.

Systematics, biogeography and conservation of Paragenidens grandoculis n. gen. and n. comb. (Siluriformes; Ariidae), a critically endangered species from southeastern Brazil.

Paragenidens, a new genus of ariid catfishes is proposed to accommodate Arius grandoculis, a species previously assigned to the genus Potamarius. Paragenidens grandoculis is an endemic ariid catfish categorized as Critically Endangered and probably Extinct from coastal lacustrine systems from Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro states, southeastern Brazil. After more than 50 years without records of the species, new recent fieldwork revealed that the species is extinct at lagoa Juparanã, but still can be found at lagoa Nova in Linhares municipality, Espírito Santo state.

Redescription of Orthopristis ruber and Orthopristis scapularis (Haemulidae: Perciformes), with a hybridization zone off the Atlantic coast of South America.

The genus Orthopristis includes seven valid species, three from the western Atlantic and five from eastern Pacific, while the available identification guides and taxonomic keys incorrectly recognize Orthopristis ruber as the only valid species found on the Atlantic coast of South America. Efforts to expand the inventory of fish species from the northern coast of Brazil led to the identification of two distinct species of Orthopristis from Atlantic South America, based on the analysis of coloration patterns and meristic data, as well as DNA. In the present study, the limits of Orthopristis ruber are reviewed, while Orthopristis scapularis is recognized as a valid species for the northern and northeastern coasts of South America.

Morphology and molecular evidence support the validity of Pogonias courbina (Lacepède, 1803) (Teleostei: Sciaenidae), with a redescription and neotype designation.

The family Sciaenidae comprises about 300 species. The black drum Pogonias cromis was the only valid species of the genus. Herein, Pogonias courbina Lacepède 1803 is redescribed based on morphological and molecular evidence and a neotype is designated.

Chinchaysuyoa, a new genus of the fish family Ariidae (Siluriformes), with a redescription of Chinchaysuyoa labiata from Ecuador and a new species description from Peru.

In recent years, morphological and molecular studies have improved our understanding about the relationships and classification schemes of the marine catfishes of the family Ariidae. A taxonomic issue that is still contentious concerns the limits and status of the freshwater Neotropical ariid diversity, in particular the species in the genus Potamarius. The delimitation of Potamarius is currently uncertain given the disjunct distribution of the species in Mesoamerica (Potamarius izabalensis, P.

Cathorops festae (Boulenger 1898) (Siluriformes; Ariidae), a valid species from Ecuador and Peru.

Over the past decade, the Sea Catfish (Ariidae) genus Cathorops has been the focus of a major taxonomic review, which has resulted in the revalidation of five synonymized nominal species, and the recognition of seven new species. With 21 valid species, Cathorops is currently the most species-rich genus of Ariidae in the New World. The principal lacuna in the taxonomic knowledge of genus species is the uncertain status of Arius festae Boulenger, 1898, described from Naranjal, in the Guayas River basin of Ecuador.

Review of the harvestfishes, genus Peprilus (Perciformes: Stromateidae), of the Atlantic coast of South America.

Currently, seven valid species are recognized in the genus Peprilus. Found from United States to Argentina, Peprilus paru has a complex nomenclatural history, with seven junior synonyms, three from North America and four from South America. As there has been no recent research, it remains unclear whether species representatives in the north-south axis represent different populations of a single species or distinct species.

Apparent signal of competition limiting diversification after ecological transitions from marine to freshwater habitats.

Adaptive radiations are typically triggered when a lineage encounters a significant range of open niche space (ecological opportunity), stemming from colonisation of new areas, extinction of competitors or key innovations. The most well-known of these is the colonisation of new areas, through either dispersal into new regions or the invasion of novel ecological regimes. One aspect of ecological opportunity that has rarely been studied, however, is the extent to which pre-existent competitors act to limit diversification in newly colonised adaptive zones.