Taxonomic review of the pipefishes Pseudophallus mindii (Meek & Hildebrand 1923) e P. brasiliensis Dawson 1974 (Teleostei: Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae)

• Grant number: 15/08024-1
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): July 14, 2015
• Effective date (End): December 05, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal researcher: Mônica de Toledo-Piza Ragazzo
• Grantee: Caio Isola Dallevo Do Amaral Gomes
• Supervisor abroad: Richard P. Vari
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/19979-7 - Taxonomic revision of the pipefishes Pseudophallus mindii (Meek & Hildebrand 1923) and P. brasiliensis (Dawson 1974), with an osteological study of P. mindii in the osteological context (Teleostei: Gasterosteiformes: Syngnathidae), BP.MS

Abstract

The family Syngnathidae includes the seahorses and pipefishes, characterized by the presence of a breeding pouch in the males, bony rings covering the body, and fused jaws. They are predominantely marine fishes, with some estuarine and freshwater forms. There are 15 species of syngnathids in the Brazilian coast, including Pseudophallus mindii (Meek and Hildebrand 1923) which occurs in freshwaters from Honduras and the Caribbean islands to Paraná. A clinal variation along the Brazilian coast in which Southern populations of P. mindii present decreasing meristic values in some characters was proposed in the literature. In addition, a new species was described in 1974 for the Rio Tocantins (P. brasiliensis Dawson), and later considered a synonym of P. mindii by some authors. In this context, a preliminary morphological study of specimens of P. mindii from rivers along the Brazilian coast revealed that despite the existence of the clinal variation proposed in the literature, the taxonomic question involving P. mindii and P. brasiliensis would only be treated appropriately after a detailed taxonomic revision including the examination of specimens from the type locality of P. mindii, from the Atlantic coasts of Central and South America and the Caribbean islands. This project aims to complement the ongoing taxonomic review of P. mindii and P. brasiliensis by examining material deposited in North-American institutions, including the holotype of P. mindii. Data obtained will be compared to the information from the Brazilian coast and included in the current taxonomic review. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DALLEVO-GOMES, CAIO I. A.; MATTOX, GEORGE M. T.; TOLEDO-PIZA, MONICA. Taxonomic review of the pipefish genus Pseudophallus Herald, with the description of a new species (Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae). Zootaxa, v. 4859, n. 1, p. 81-112, OCT 5 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.