Flávio A. Bockmann

Estrutura e composição da ictiofauna de riachos do rio Paranapanema, Sudeste e Sul do Brasil

Seventeen 100 m long streams stretches, none of an order higher than three, were sampled to both sides of the main channel of Rio Paranapanema in the States of Sao Paulo and Parana, southeastern and southern Brazil. Each stream stretch had its midpoint located with a GPS satellite receiver and had its fish fauna sampled via a standardized environmental data and fish collection methodology (primarily utilizing electrofishing) with the aim of providing the following information about each stream: 1) the taxonomic composition of the fish fauna and the contribution of each species in that stream in terms of both number of individuals and biomass; 2) a photographic documentation of the live coloration of representative speci-mens of each collected species; and 3) the description of each sampled environment, with colored photographic illustra-tions and details of the main biotic and abiotic parameters. Overall 3,683 fishes were collected, belonging to six orders, 16 families, 37 genera, and 52 species, with a total biomass of 16.8 kg. Of the collected species, approximately 36% were Siluriformes, 36% Characiformes, 11% Gymnotiformes, 10% Perciformes, 4% Cyprinodontiformes, and 2% Synbranchiformes. The most abundant species in terms of total number of individuals were Astyanax altiparanae (15.2%) and Astyanax sp. 1 (12.3%); The species with the largest biomasses were Astyanax altiparanae (28%) and Geophagus brasiliensis (13%). In terms of abundance and biomass collected for each family, the Characidae was clearly the predominant family followed by the Loricariidae, Pimelodidae, and Cichlidae. Among the sampled stream stretches, locality 14 with 24 species and locality 13 with five species yielded the highest and lowest richness in terms of species numbers, respectively. This coincides with the values obtained for the Shannon-Wienner index of specific diversity (H´ = 0.99 and 0.32, respectively). The median species richness for all streams stretches was 11. In the species richness estimate by extrapolation for all 17 sampled stream stretches, a value of 69 species was obtained (with a standard error of four) indicating the need for an additional moderate sampling effort to reach the asymptote of the curve. Of the 52 collected species, eight (approximately 15% of the total) are clearly new to science and five other species (approximately 10% of the total) are of indefinite taxonomic status and require further analysis. Three of the captured species are introduced (approximately 6% of the total). Analysis of the trophic and spatial structure of the studied fish fauna indicates that the 10 numerically dominant species in the sampled streams can be grouped into four guilds that are in decreasing order of numeric importance: nektonic omnivores; benthonic invertivores; periphytovores; and benthonic omnivores. An identification key for all the species of fish collected during this study it is provided.

Taxonomic Impediment or Impediment to Taxonomy? A Commentary on Systematics and the Cybertaxonomic-Automation Paradigm

Marcelo R. de Carvalho AE Flavio A. Bockmann AE Dalton S. Amorim AE Carlos Roberto F. Brandao AE Mario de Vivo AE Jose L. de Figueiredo AE Heraldo A. Britski AE Mario C. C. de Pinna AE Naercio A. Menezes AE Fernando P. L. Marques AE Nelson Papavero AE Eliana M. Cancello AE Jorge V. Crisci AE John D. McEachran AE Robert C. Schelly AE John G. Lundberg AE Anthony C. Gill AE Ralf Britz AE Quentin D. Wheeler AE Melanie L. J. Stiassny AE Lynne R. Parenti AE Larry M. Page AE Ward C. Wheeler AE Julian Faivovich AE Richard P. Vari AE Lance Grande AE Chris J. Humphries AE Rob DeSalle AE Malte C. Ebach AE Gareth J. Nelson

Dorsolateral head muscles of the catfish families Nematogenyidae and Trichomycteridae (Siluriformes: Loricarioidei): comparative anatomy and phylogenetic analysis

Os musculos esqueleticos da regiao dorsolateral da cabeca de Nematogenyidae e de representantes de todos os maiores clados de Trichomycteridae sao descritos e ilustrados. Uma hipotese das relacoes filogeneticas entre estes taxons, baseada exclusivamente na musculatura estudada, e apresentada. O unico cladograma mais parcimonioso obtido da analise filogenetica dos 36 caracteres miologicos levantados e 35 taxons-terminais concorda com a maior parte das hipoteses anteriores de relacoes entre os tricomicterideos. Copionodontinae e Trichogeninae formam uma linhagem monofiletica que e grupo-irma de todos os demais tricomicterideos. O monofiletismo dos clados formados por Glanapteryginae mais Sarcoglanidinae; Stegophilinae mais Tridentinae mais Vandelliinae; e do agrupamento incluindo estas cinco subfamilias (clado TSVSG) e corroborado. Duas de nossas descobertas sao, entretanto, discordantes com relacao as hipoteses anteriores mais aceitas: a relacao de grupo-irmao entre Tridentinae e Stegophilinae e o monofiletismo de Trichomycterinae lato sensu, i. e., incluindo os generos Scleronema e Ituglanis. Alem disso, as sinapomorfias osteologicas previamente propostas suportando as relacoes de afinidade de Scleronema e Ituglanis com o clado TSVSG foram revisadas, revelando serem invalidas ou ambiguas. A maior parte das sinapomorfias aqui propostas sao livres de homoplasias, com algumas delas corroborando o monofiletismo de grupos fracamente suportados, tais como o da subfamilia Stegophilinae.

Does counting species count as taxonomy? On misrepresenting systematics, yet again

Recent commentary by Costello and collaborators on the current state of the global taxonomic enterprise attempts to demonstrate that taxonomy is not in decline as feared by taxonomists, but rather is increasing by virtue of the rate at which new species are formally named. Having supported their views with data that clearly indicate as much, Costello et al. make recommendations to increase the rate of new species descriptions even more. However, their views appear to rely on the perception of species as static and numerically if not historically equivalent entities whose value lie in their roles as “metrics”. As such, their one‐dimensional portrayal of the discipline, as concerned solely with the creation of new species names, fails to take into account both the conceptual and epistemological foundations of systematics. We refute the end‐user view that taxonomy is on the rise simply because more new species are being described compared with earlier decades, and that, by implication, taxonomic practice is a formality whose pace can be streamlined without considerable resources, intellectual or otherwise. Rather, we defend the opposite viewpoint that professional taxonomy is in decline relative to the immediacy of the extinction crisis, and that this decline threatens not just the empirical science of phylogenetic systematics, but also the foundations of comparative biology on which other fields rely. The allocation of space in top‐ranked journals to propagate views such as those of Costello et al. lends superficial credence to the unsupportive mindset of many of those in charge of the institutional fate of taxonomy. We emphasize that taxonomy and the description of new species are dependent upon, and only make sense in light of, empirically based classifications that reflect evolutionary history; homology assessments are at the centre of these endeavours, such that the biological sciences cannot afford to have professional taxonomists sacrifice the comparative and historical depth of their hypotheses in order to accelerate new species descriptions.

Trichomycterus maracaya, a new catfish from the upper rio Paraná, southeastern Brazil (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae), with notes on the T. brasiliensis species-complex

Trichomycterus maracaya, a new species of Trichomycteridae, is described from a streamlet in the upper rio Parana, Pocos de Caldas, State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. The following putative autapomorphies distinguishes T. maracaya from congeneric species: 1) row of lateral blotches not forming a stripe at any phase during ontogeny; 2) superficial layer of pigmentation of juveniles and large (presumably adults) specimens consisting solely of scattered chromatophores. Furthermore, the new species is characterized by a combination of yellow ground color in life and mottled pattern formed by small to medium-sized, brown, irregularly-coalescent, well-defined deeper-lying blotches, and more superficial dots on the body. Trichomycterus maracaya is assigned to the T. brasiliensis species-complex (which includes T. brasiliensis, T. iheringi, T. mimonha, T. potschi, T. vermiculatus, and several undescribed species apparently endemic to the main river basins draining the Brazilian Shield) based on the presence of: 1) blotches in four longitudinal rows of deeper-lying pigmentation on the trunk large, horizontally-elongated, and well-defined; 2) pectoral fin with I+5-6 rays; 3) separation between the anterior and posterior cranial fontanels by the primordial epiphyseal cartilaginous bar being present only in larger specimens; and 4) pelvic-fin bases very close to each other, sometimes in contact.

The blind catfish from the caves of Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae): description, anatomy, phylogenetic relationships, natural history, and biogeography

, a new troglobitic heptapterid catfish, is described from the caves of Chapada Diamantina, State of Bahia,northeastern Brazil. This species, although frequently cited in the scientific literature along the last seventeen years, remainedundescribed largely due to its uncertain phylogenetic affinities. The generic assignment of

Heptapterus collettii Steindachner, 1881: A Member of the Asian Bagrid Genus Olyra Erroneously Assigned to the Neotropical Fauna (Siluriformes: Ostariophysi)

Abstract Heptapterus collettii Steindachner, 1881, a catfish described from La Plata basin in South America, has a puzzling set of characters for Neotropical siluriforms. Examination of one syntype shows that H. collettii does not belong to Heptapteridae or any other Neotropical family but rather to Olyra, a genus of Bagridae endemic to South Asia. Thus, it should be referred to as Olyra collettii. The species has nasal barbels on the posterior nares (shared with various Old-World catfish taxa), a wide separation between the anal and urogenital openings (shared with a large subgroup of Bagridae) and a unique structure of the first lateral-line ossicle (shared with species of Olyra). The species is similar to Olyra longicaudata, although there are significant morphometric and meristic differences. Current problems in the taxonomy of Olyra prevent conclusive resolution of the identity of O. collettii. The presence of a species of Olyra in South America is unlikely, and we consider this to be a result of mistaken locality records.

Systematics of the neotropical catfish genera Nemuroglanis Eigenmann and Eigenmann 1889, Imparales Schultz 1944, and Medemichthys Dahl 1961 (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae)

Abstract The phylogenetic relationships of the poorly known nominal heptapterid genera Nemuroglanis, Imparales, and Medemichthys, and the validity of their species, are examined on the basis of type- and recently discovered material. These genera are known from the Amazon River basin of Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, and the Orinoco River basin of Venezuela. Two species were described in Nemuroglanis, Nemuroglanis lanceolatus, its type species, from the Amazon River, and Nemuroglanis pauciradiatus, from the Orinoco and Negro River basins. Imparales includes its type species, Imparales mariai, from the Orinoco River basin, and Imparales panamensis, from Panama. Medemichthys, also known from Orinoco River basin, is monotypic, with Medemichthys guayaberensis as its type species. Based on the study of morphological characters, we conclude that (1) N. lanceolatus, N. pauciradiatus, and I. mariai constitute a monophyletic group within the Heptapteridae, but I. panamensis is not a member of this clade and is instead part of a currently unresolved clade that includes the genera Chasmocranus, Pariolius, and Phenacorhamdia; (2) N. lanceolatus, N. pauciradiatus, and I. mariai are valid species, but M. guayberensis is a junior synonym of I. mariai; (3) N. lanceolatus and N. pauciradiatus are sister species, and I. mariai is sister to that clade; and (4) the distinctions between I. mariai and the two species of Nemuroglanis render the recognition of both Nemuroglanis and Imparales problematic, prompting us to include I. mariai in an expanded Nemuroglanis.

Phylogenetic relationships of Chanidae (Teleostei: Gonorynchiformes) as impacted by Dastilbe moraesi , from the Sanfranciscana basin, Early Cretaceous of Brazil

This study was supported by CNPq (process # 401818/2010-1) and project CGL2013-42643P, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion de Espana

Brazilian legislation on genetic heritage harms Biodiversity Convention goals and threatens basic biology research and education.

Beginning in November 2018, Brazilian legislation regulating access to genetic heritage and associated traditional knowledge will cause a bureaucratic collapse of Biodiversity research in Brazil. Law number 13.123/2015 and Decree 8772/2016 impose severe barriers to basic and applied research, and to international cooperation by introducing mandatory registry of research access to native organisms in Brazil. This legal framework was meant to improve governmental control over systems of biotechnology research using genetic material and associated chemical compounds, which are central points of the Nagoya Protocol (CBD 2011) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 1992, 2012). However, the requirements imposed by the mandatory registry of research in the new National System for Governance of Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge (SisGen), the system of Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), and the need to record access to organismal data prior to publication of scientific results or exportation of specimens for scientific research are technically impracticable and not part of the Nagoya Protocol or CBD ..