An Annotated Checklist of the Shorefishes of the Canary Islands
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AMERICAN MUSEUM Novitates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10024 Number 2824, pp. 1-49, figs. 1-5 August 7, 1985 An Annotated Checklist of the Shorefishes of the Canary Islands JAMES K. DOOLEY,' JAMES VAN TASSELL,2 AND ALBERTO BRITO3 ABSTRACT The inshore canarian fish fauna includes 217 The fish fauna contains elements from the Med- species from 67 families. Fifteen new records (in- iterranean-Atlantic and West African areas, but cluding two undescribed species) and numerous does not exhibit any clear transition. Three en- rare species have been included. The number of demic species of fishes have been confirmed. The fishes documented from the Canary Islands and families with the greatest diversification include: nearby waters total approximately 400 species. Sparidae (21 species), Scorpaenidae (1 1), Gobiidae This figure includes some 200 pelagic, deepwater, (1 1), Blenniidae (10), Serranidae (9), Carangidae and elasmobranch species not treated in this study. (9), Muraenidae (7), and Labridae (7). RESUMEN La fauna ictiologica de las aguas costeras se las en el presente trabajo. La fauna contiene elemen- Islas Canarias comprende 217 especies de 67 fa- tos de las regiones Atlantico-Mediterranea y Oeste milias. Se incluyen quince citas nuevas (incluyen Africana, pero no muestra una clara transicion. dos especies no describen) y numerosas especies Tres especie endemica existe. Las familias con ma- raras. El nu'mero de peces de las aguas canarias se yor diversificacion son: Sparidae (21 especies), eleva aproximadamente a 400 especies. Este nui- Scorpaenidae (1 1), Gobiidae (1 1), Blenniidae (10), mero incluye casi 200 especies pelagicas, de aguas Serranidae (9), Carangidae (9), Muraenidae (7), y profundas y elasmobranquios que no se discuten Labridae (7). ' Associate Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530, U.S.A. 2Adjunct Lecturer, Adelphi University. 3Professor Ayudante (Asst. Professor), Departmento de Biologia Marina, Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain). Copyright © American Museum of Natural History 1985 ISSN 0003-0082 / Price $4.00 2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2824 INTRODUCTION This study was initiated by the first author 1844; Steindachner, 1865; Vinciguerra, 1893; in 1976 during a field study trip by students Jordan and Gunn, 1899). Recent works in- and faculty ofAdelphi University. During the clude: a reprint of Webb and Berthelot's course of subsequent years it became appar- (1835-1850) excellent plates ofcanarian fau- ent that the literature on the shorefishes of na (Webb and Berthelot, 1982); crustaceans these islands was very limited and largely and fishes from La Palma (Santaella, Bravo based upon archaic systematic literature de Laguna, and Santos, 1975); an unpub- (1830s-1930s). Numerous ongoing littoral lished checklist ofnearly 400 species (Dooley and sublittoral ecological projects by us as and Van Tassell, 1979); clingfishes (Brito, well as enormous local interests by scientists 1982); three new records from the canaries and fishermen induced us to undertake the (Brito, 1983); garden eels (Brito and Cruz, study. Our task was to couple our knowledge 1981); gobies (Brito and Lozano, 1980; Mil- ofthe fishes collected over the years with the ler, 1984), blennies (Brito and Lozano, 1981); early and recent literature of the region. The zoogeography (Brito and Lozano, in press); a Canary Islands are located proximal to an rare macrourid (Dooley, 1979); and econom- important fisheries region. The relatively rich ic fisheries (Garcia, 1970). Fisheries are un- Saharian Grounds offnorthwest Africa serve der study by personnel at the Instituto Es- the fishing fleets ofSpain and numerous other panol de Oceanografia Laboratorio de nations. The fishery resources of the region Canarias and the Universidad de la Laguna have been well explored. However, there have on Tenerife, and the Centro de Tecnologla been recent systematic and nomenclatural Pesquera on Gran Canaria. changes, as well as new distributional data Early surveys on the marine fishes ofWest for many of the shorefishes. It is hoped that Africa and vicinity are somewhat useful ref- this paper will serve as a useful reference to erences for canarian fishes. However, the the regional fisheries interests. reader is cautioned about the numerous no- This list is based primarily on some 350 menclatural changes (Metzelaar, 1919; Roule, stations collected from 1976 to 1984 by the 1919; Chabanaud and Monod, 1927; Fowler, first two authors and numerous additional 1936; Bauchot, 1966a). More recently, a collections by the third author (a native of checklist ofthe fishes ofthe northeastern At- the Canary Islands). It represents the largest lantic and Mediterranean (CLOFNAM) (Hu- survey of canarian fishes to our knowledge. reau and Monod, 1973, Tortonese and Hu- Collection sources consisted of shore and reau, 1979), its counterpart for the eastern SCUBA stations to approximately 25 m. Fish tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA) [Quero (ed.), market and reliable literature records have in press], and a northwest African trawling also been included. Shore collections were survey (Lloris and Rucabado, 1979) are very made off the islands of Gran Canaria, Te- useful references for the region. The Food and nerife, Lanzarote, La Palma, Gomera, Hier- Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the ro, and Fuerteventura (figs. 1-5). Inshore bony United Nations has also published a series of fishes found at depths to approximately 200 identification sheets of the fishes with eco- m were of major interest. Although most pe- nomic importance for the eastern central At- lagic species were not treated, some that are lantic (Fischer, Bianchi, and Scott (eds.), frequently caught in inshore waters were in- 1981). cluded. Elasmobranchs and most deepwater The canaries present a great potential for groups were generally not considered. Several biogeographic studies because they are rela- references of canarian elasmobranchs are tively isolated, lie in approximately the same available [Bellon and Bardan, 1931; Bravo latitude, and extend westerly from 110 to 550 de Laguna, 1973; Quero (ed.), in press; Fisch- km off the coast of West Africa. er, Bianchi, and Scott (eds.), 1981]. Biogeographically, the canaries lie within The fishes of the Canary Islands have re- the Lusitanian Province of the Mediterra- ceived little attention since the early major nean-Atlantic Region (Ekman, 1953). The works ofseveral authors (Valenciennes, 1837- nearby Saharian Grounds of the northwest 1 985 DOOLEY, V-AN;TASSELL, BRITO: CANARIAN SHOREFISHES 3 FIG. 1. Map of the Canary Islands. Arrows denote direction of surface current. The 200 m and 1000 m depth contours are also shown. coast of Africa appear to be a transition be- by deep (>3000 m) water. The 200 m depth tween the Ethiopian and Palearctic fish fau- contour varies from approximately 100 m nas (Lloris and Rucabado, 1979). The Canary from shore off the south coast of Hierro to Island fish fauna, however, does not exhibit more than 10 km offthe south shore of Gran a clear distributional transition due in part Canaria. The offshore distances to the 200 m to its isolation. The canaries, along with the and 1000 m contours can be seen in figures Azores, Madeira, Salvages, and Cape Verde 1-5. The islands of Lanzarote and Fuerte- Islands, comprise the North Atlantic Island ventura, located about 110 km off the coast group known as "Macaronesia." The Canary of Africa, are microcontinental in character Islands are located in the warm-temperate (Dietz and Scroll, 1970); the remaining is- climatic region and have narrow-ranging sea lands are true oceanic islands. The margins surface temperatures varying from 18°C in of the islands are largely formed from wind winter to 22°C during the summer. These and water eroded volcanic rock (rhyolite ig- water temperatures are generally below nor- nimbrites) according to J. S. Starmer (per- mal for the latitude due to the cool, southerly sonal commun.). However, areas of sand, flowing Canary Current and the cold north- mud, and cobble are also found on some west African upwelling regions. coasts. The canarian archipelago consist of seven Specimens have been deposited in the fol- major islands and six smaller islands located lowing museums: Academy of Natural Sci- between 27°37'N and 29°26'N and 13°19'20"/ ences of Philadelphia (ANSP), American and 18°10'20" W off the coast of northwest Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Uni- Africa (fig. 1). The canaries are surrounded versidad de La Laguna, Tenerife (UL), the 4 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2824 FIG. 2. Map ofGran Canaria. Dots denote major sampling areas. Dashed lines depict barrancos (dry gorges). The 200 m and 1000 m depth contours are also shown. U.S. National Museum of Natural History, locality. Nomenclature follows the recent lit- Washington, D.C. (USNM), and the Univer- erature where possible [Hureau and Monod, sity of Washington (UW). Additional abbre- 1973; Tortonese and Hureau, 1979; Quero viations include: Canary Islands (C), Centro (ed.), in press; Fischer, Bianchi, and Scott de Technologia Pesquera, Gran Canaria (eds.), 1 981]. Canarian vernacular names have (CTP), Fuerteventura (F), Gomera (G), Gran also been included. Canaria (GC), Hierro (H), J. K. Dooley field collection number (JKD), J. Van Tassell field ACKNOWLEDGMENTS number (JVT), Lanzarote (L), La Palma (LP), The authors wish to thank the following and Tenerife (T). An asterisk preceding a spe- people for their information and assistance: cific name denotes a new record for the ca- Drs. J. C. Briggs, Univ. South Florida, Tam- naries. UL and CTP collections include only pa, Fla.; David Bramwell, Jardin Botanico, localities. Field data include: (1) number of Tafira Alta, GC; Wm. N. Eschmeyer, Calif. specimens by station or for the year and (2) Acad. Sci., San Francisco; P. J. Miller, Univ. 1985 DOOLEY, VAN TASSELL, BRITO: CANARIAN SHOREFISHES 5 FIG. 3. Map of Lanzarote. Dots denote major sampling areas. Dashed lines depict barrancos (dry gorges).