Estudo morfológico e molecular do gênero Proloricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae, Loricariinae): revisão das espécies nominais

• Grant number: 21/06334-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2021
• End date: March 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Kannebley de Oliveira
• Grantee: Vitor Hugo Palomo Pinheiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The cascudos of the subfamily Loricariinae inhabit substrate environments in the rivers of South America. They are distinguished from other groups of the family Loricariidae by presenting a long and depressed caudal peduncle, and absence of adipose fin. The genus Proloricaria was described in 2001 based on the type species Loricaria prolixa, from the Tietê River basin. The other valid species for the genus, Proloricaria lentiginosa, was originally described as L. prolixa lentiginosa, based on specimens from Grande River. The two species are widely distributed in the Upper Paraná River basin and morphologically much similar. Their distinction was originally based on the difference in head and body color pattern, and on the disposal of abdominal dermal plates. Such characters have been verified variable and there are doubts about the taxonomic recognition and validity of the two species, suggesting synonymy. This undergraduate research project proposes the morphological and molecular study of the genus Proloricara, aiming to test the hypothesis of synonymy between the two species. Morphometric, meristic and qualitative analyses of the morphology of specimens deposited in collections will be performed, as well as DNA barcoding molecular analysis from the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene sequencing of the of topotype specimens. It is expected to characterize the nominal species of Proloricaria with morphological and molecular characters that allow to clarify the distinction of P. prolixa and P. lentiginosa, or their eventual synonymy.(AU)