18 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No.56

NEW RECORDS OF GALAPAGOS FISHES

By: John E. McCosker and Paul H. Humann

INTRODUCTION Cyclichthys spilostylus (Yellow-spotted Burrfish). Guentherus altiaelø,aIso anew record, is fromthe southeast The shorefishes of the Galápagos Islands have received Atlantic and the eastern Pacific. considerable attention in recent years with the advent of modern scuba diving and improvements in underwater A,CCOUNTS photography. Since 7977,Hurnann has made more than 1,400 dives throughout the archipelago and, inpreparation Fømily Triakidøe for the publication of his Galápagos Reef Fish Identification Guide (Humann 7993), discovered that many of his Triakis mauLlntn Kner and Steindachner 7866 subjects were previously unknown, unreported and, in severalcases, new to science. McCoskerhasmade several An adult female Spotted Houndshark, = 770 cm TL, trips to Galápagos and has also discovered new species was capturedwithhoókand line above a 6-8 mbottomby and new records of fishes otherwise known from McCosker on 25 ]uly 1980 at Punta Espinosa, Isla elsewhere in the eastern Pacific or from the Indo-Pacific. Fernandina. It was photographed (Figure 1) and The most recent estimates of the Galápagos examined, then released alive. Its identification was ichthyofauna indicated approximately 325 shorefish verified by from the photograph and description (personal species distributed among 92 famllies (McCosker and communication, L. J. V. Compa&no). Triokis møuúnta Rosenblatt 1984; McCosker 7987; and subsequent new ranges from Peru to northern Chile, includes Mustelus records and species descriptions). As well, the recent El nigromøculafr¿s Evermann and Radcliffe (1917) in its Niño events that have occurred in the eastern Pacific have synonymy, and may rcach240 cm (Compagno 1984). added additional examples of Indo-Pacific fishes to the Galápagos (Grove 1985); however it is unlikely that many Family Murøenidøe of them will establish reproducing populations. We add the following 13 new records of species previously Gymnothorax meleagris Shaw and Nodder 1795 u¡known from Galápagos. Species common to the eastem Pacific mainland include: Triqkis maculatn (Spotted An adult specimen of the Whitemouth Moray, Houndshark) ; Elop s ffinis (Ten Poun ders) ; Ur aspis hela ola Gymnothorøx meleagris, was seen and photographed in (Cotton Mouth jacks); Haemtùott sexfasciøtwn (Graybar March 7989,by Humann (7993,p.77fl off Cousins Rock, Grunt); Hemilutjønus macrophthalmus (Ojo de Uaa); and Isla Santiago, over a boulder strewn bottom at Kathetostomø au erruncus (Smooth Sta r gazer). New records approximately 15 m depth. This species is unmistakable of species common to the Indo-Pacific include: in appearance, and this individual represents the first Gymnothorøx melengris (\ÂIhitemouth Moray); F orcipiger example reported from the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is fløuissinttts (Long-nosed Butterfly Fish); Thaløssoma commoninshallowtropicalwaters fromFlawaüwestward purpLlreum (Surge Wrasse); Nqso brersirosfrls (Spotted to the coast of Africa (Gosline and Brock 1960; Castle and Unicornfish); N. olamingll (Bignose Unicornfish); and McCosker 7986). Previously reported records of G.

Figure L. Adult female Triakis maculafa (Spotted Houndshark), = 170 cm total length, captured above a 6-8 m bottom at Punta Espinosa, Isla Fernandina,25 July 1980. March 1996 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 79 melengris from the Red Sea are based on mis-identified Fømily ln Question specimens of G. buroensls (Randall and Golani 1995). McCosker and Rosenblatt (1975) reviewed the morays Hemilutj anus macr ophthalmus T schudi 1 845 of the Galápagos and reported upon 16 species, four of which are also widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. Humann regularly observed and photographed McCosker et al. (1984) subsequentlyrecognized the eastern (Humann 1993, p.65) groups of O jo de Uaqbelow 30 m at Pacific l)ropterygius necturus (jordan and Gilbert) to be a PuntaVicente Roca. McCosker observed threeindividuals junior synonym of U. macrocephølus (Bleeker). Bussing at35 malong thenorthentrance to Tagus Cove,Islalsabela. (L991) described McCosker and Rosenblatt' s " Uroptery gius They were = 25 cm in length and hovered about 1 m above sp." as LL aersutus. The presence of G. meleagris in the rocky bottom. Ojo de Uaa have previously been Galápagos brings the number of muraenids common to reported from the coasts of Perú and Chile where it is the eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific to 11 (see Rosenblatt captured by fishermen using handlines over rockybottoms et al. 1972; McCosker and Rosenblat|. 1975), including: (Hildebrand L946). The familial relationships of Echidna nebulos a, Enchely cor e lichenosø, Enchely nassa c anin a, Hemilutjønus are poorly understood, however recent Gy mno thor nx bur o ensis, G. fI aa im ar ginøtu s, G. m eleagr is, G. studies (]ohnson 1984) have determined that although it undul øtus, Gy mnomur aenø zebr n, S cut ic ør iø t igr in n, S i d er e n looks much like a snapper, it does not belong within the pict n, and Ur optery gius mncr o cephalus. Lutjanidae.

Fømily Elopidøe Eømily Chøetodontidøe

Elops ffinis Regan 1909 Forcipiger flaaissimus Jordan and McGregor 1898

Also known as Ten Pounders, Lady Fish, or Chiro, Humann photographed (Humann 7993, p. 29) adults Møchete are found in shallow inshore areas between Peru of the Long-nosed Butterfly fish on numerous occasions and southern California. We report them from Galápagos at Isla Darwin (May 1 99 1, Novemb er 1992, Apríl and May on the basis of our sightings and photographs (Humann 1993) and once at Wolf (M ay 7993). In each case they were 1993,p.51) off Roca Redonda at 3-5 mbeneath the surface, swimming over rocky, boulder strewn bottoms between above aboulderbottom at 15 m depth. We presume them 8-10 m. Forcipiger flaoissimus is widely reported from tobeE. ffinis, the only species known to inhabit the eastern throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans (Burgess 1978). tropical Pacific (\Mhitehead 1962). In the eastern Pacific, it is also known from Easter Island, the Revillagigedo Islands, Clipperton Island, and Cabo Fømily Cmøngidøe San Lucas.

Urøspis heluola Forster, 1801 Fømily Løbridøe

We occasionally observed, and photographed Thalnssomn purpureum (Forrsk=E5l 1775) (Humann 1993,p. 39),large schools of CottonmouthJacks off Darwin, Wolf, and Roca Redonda. We now cautiously Humann observed numerous individuals of the Surge identify this species as U. helaola, rather than U. secundq Wrasse (Figure 2) at IsIa Darwin during May and (Poey, 1860), until a generic revision is completed (pers. November 7994. They were appropriately swimming comm. W. F. Smith-Vaniz). In the eastern Pacific, it is also within the surge zone at about 3-4 m depth. This species found from southern California to Costa Rica, typically is widespread in the Indo-Pacific and known from the near offshore islands. Red Sea to the Hawaiian, Marquesan, and Easter islands, north to southern Japan and throughout Micronesia Fømily Høemulidøe. (Myers 1 989). Randall (1 995, p. 67 5) reported its occurrence at Clipperton Island. Haemulon sexfasciøtum Gill 1862 Fømily Ateleopodidøe We observed and photographed (Humann1993,p. 57) schools of adult Graybar Grunt at several Galápagos Guentherus altiaeln Osorio 1917 locations between 7-15 m depth, including the channel between Baltra and North Seymour, the north shore of A postlarval specimen of Guentherus øItioela was Española off Isla Gardner, Corona del Diablo off Isla collected by Andre De Roy on 12 ]une 1978 using a benthic Floreana, and Cabo Marshall, Isla Isabela. It is shell dredge in 200 m, south of Isla Santa Cruz. The unmistakable in coloration and is one of the commoner damaged and poorly preserved specimen (Figure 3, CAS nearshore grunts living between the Gulf of California 47 468)has tlrre following counts and measurements (mm) : and Panama. standard length 109; head length27; snoutlength 6.5; upper 20 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No.56

Pacific specimens did not differ significantly from the Galápagos specimen in either counts or measurements.

Fømily Acønthuridøe

N aso breairosfrls Valencierures 1835

McCoskerwas advisedbyTuiDe Royin 1984 that she had seen a "unicom-snouted" surgeonfish off Islas Darwin and Wolf. Subsequent observations and photographs confirmed the presence of the Spotted Unicornfish by Humann along the northern edge of Isla Darwin in 10 m in November 7993, suggesting to us that De Roy had also seen ÀJ. breairostris. The Spotted Unicornfish is easily recognized on the basis of its head profile (Figure 4) and coloration, and is well-known from the Red Sea to the Figure Z. Adult Thalassoma purpLLreLLm (Surge Wrasse) photo- Flawaiian, Marquesan, and Ducie islands, north to graphed by Humann at 1-4 m depth in the surge zone off Isla southern ]apan, south to Lord Flowe Island, and Darwin 1n1994. throughout Micronesia (Myers 1989). This represents the first record of its existence within the eastern Pacific. jaw length 13.5; eye diameter 5.3; preanal length 44; tail Naso ulaminsll Valenciennes 1835 length 65; dorsal fin rays 72; anal fin rays 75; caudal fin rays 11; pectoral fin rays 14; pelvic fin rays71, the last two We observed and photographed Bignose Unicronfish joined at their base; upper gill rakers 5; lower gill rakers on separate occasions at the south side of Isla Darwin 18. The specimen is too poorly ossified to allow a vertebral above 12 m depth in November 7993, and at 18 m off the count to be made and fins were too damaged to allow north end of Isla Wolf in M ay 7994. The absence of a nasal accurate length measurements. The coloration of this horn, the elongate caudal filaments, and the blue bar nearly gelatinous specimen is similar to that of the 104.5 beneath the eye identify this species (Figure 5). This mm postlarva illustrated in Bussing and Lopez (7977), represents the first eastern Pacific record for this species; and possesses ten black smudged bands over a cream in the Indo-Pacific it is know.n from East Africa to the Line, colored body, black fin edging, and spots (about equal to Marquesan, and Tuamoto islands, north to southemJapan, the eye in size) on the head. south to the southern Great Barrier Reef and New Guentherus altiuelq is known from 360-700 m depth off Caledonia, and throughout Micronesia (Myers 1989). southwest Africa to the Cape of Good Hope, and from Panama and Costa Rica in the eastern Pacific, between 220-302rndepth (Bussing and Lopez 7977). Their eastern

Figure 3. Postlarval specimen of Guenthertrc nltiaela (CAS 47468) collected by Andre De Roy in 200 m, south of Isla Santa Cruz. March 1996 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS 27

Figure 5. Adult Naso alamingll (Bignose Unicronfish), photo- graphed by Humann at 18 m at the north end of Isla Wolf, May 1994.

Figure 4. Adult N¿rs o breuirostris (Spotted Unicornfish), photo- graphed by Humann at 10 m at Isla Darwin, November 1993. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Robert j. Lavenberg andJackGrove of theLos Angeles Fømily Urønoscopidøe County Museum of Natural History are preparing a volume about the fishes of Galápagos, and they, along Kathetostoma ûaerruncus Jordan and Bollman 1890 with Richard H. Rosenblatt of the Scripps Institution of Oceanographyand JohnE. Randall of the Bernice P. Bishop AI17 mm (standard length) Smooth Stargazer (CAS Museum, have kindly assisted us with the information 47 47 0) w as captured using a "coffee can dredge" byAndre that we report herein. We also thank Tui De Roy who De Roy in the Galápagos, location unidentified. provided advice as well as the specimens that her father Kathetostomø aaerruncus was described from specimens had collected. Permission to collect and observe fishes at collected off Colombia and includes K . ornatusW ade Q9a6) Galápagos was kindly made possible by a permit from from the San Benito Islands, Baja California, in its Arturo Izurieta and Felipe Cruz of the Servicio Parque synonymy. The Smooth Stargazer inhabits sand bottoms Nacional Galápagos and Byron Moya Reyes, Director over a wide range of depth (13-384 m) and is recorded General de Pesca. Logistical support was provided by Dr. from central California to Peru (Eschmeyer and Herald Chantal Blanton, Laura Chellis, and Alfredo Carrasco of 1e83). the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands. We thank Eduardo and Dolores Diez of Quasar Nautica, Fømily Diodontidøe for generously providing the use of their vessel Mistral. Specimens reported on are kept in the Ichthyological Cyclichthys spilostylus Leis and Randall 1982 collections of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), San Francisco, California, USA. An adult Yellow-spotted Burrfish was first seen and photographed in March,7978 (Humann7993, page 151), LITERATURE CITED hidingbeneatha ledge at 15 m atTagus Cove, Isla Isabela. Flumann observed a second specimen in November ,7994, Bussing, W. A. 1991. A new species of eastern Pacific moray eel at 20 m depth off Punta Vicente Roca, Isla Isabela. (Pisces: Muraenidae). Revista Biologia Tropical 39(1): 97- Described as Chilomycterus spilostylus, t}:iis burrfish has 102. Bussing, W. A. and M. I. Lop ez. 1977 . Gt Lentherus altiaela Osorío, been subsequently referred to Cyclichthys and is known the first ateleopodid fish reported from the eastern Pacific fromthe Red Sea, SouthAfrica to the South China Sea, the Ocean. Revista Biolo gia Tropical 25 (2) : 17 9 -790. Philippines, and Australia (Leis 1986, Matsuura et Japan, Castle, P. H. l. and J. E. McCosker. 1986. Family No. 41: aL.7993). Muraenidae. Pp.1,65-176inSmith's Sea Fishes, ed. by M. M. Smith and P. C. Heemstra. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg. 22 NOTICIAS DE GALAPAGOS No.56

Compagno, L. I. V. 1984. Sharks of the World. Part 2 - McCosker, J. E. and R. H. Rosenblatt. 1975. The moray eels Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fisheries Synopsis no. 725, 4(2): (Pisces: Muraenidae) of the Galápagos Islands, with new 251-655. records and synonymies of extralimital species. Proceedings Evermann, B. W. and L. Radcliffe. 1977. Tlne fishes of the west of the California Academy of Sciences 40(13): 417-427. coast of Peru and the Titicaca Basin. Bulletin U. S. National McCosker, |. E. and R. H. RosenblatT.. 7984. The inshore fish Museum 95:I-766. fauna of the Galápagos Islands. Pp. 133-144 in Key Grove, i. 1985. Influence of the1982-7983 El Niño event upon Environments, Galápagos, ed. by R. Perry. Pergammon the ichthyofauna of the Galápagos Archipelago. Pp.191-198 Press, Oxford. in El Niño en las Islas Galápagos: el evento de 1982-1983. Myers, R. F. 1989. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics, Fundación Charles Darwin para las Islas Galápagos, Quito. Guam. 298pp. Hildebrand, S .F. 1946. A descriptive catalog of the shore fishes Randall, |. E. 1995. On the validity of the eastern Pacific labrid of Peru. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus. 189: 1-530. fishes Thalassomø grammaticum Gllbeft and T. oir ens Gilbet. FIumann, P. 1993. Reef fish identification. Galápagos. Ed. by Bulletin of Marine Science 56(2): 670-675. N. Deloach. New World Pub., jacksonville, Florida, and Randall, J. E. and D. Golani. 1995. Areview of the moray eels LibriMundi, Quito Ecuador. 192pp. (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) of the Red Sea. Bulletin of Johnsor¡ G. D. 1984. Percoidei: development and relationships. Marine Science 56(3): 849-880. Pp. 464-498 in Special Publication No. 1 of the American Rosenblatt, R.H., I.E. McCosker and I. Rubinoff. 1972. Indo- Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. West Pacific fishes from the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama. Leis, j. M. 1986. Family No. 269: Diodontidae. Pp.903-907 n Contributions in Science of the Los Angeles County Museum Smiths' Sea Fishes, ed. by M. M. Smith and P. C. Fleemstra. of Natural History 234:1-18. Macmillan South Africa, johannesburg. Wade, C. B. 1946. New fishes in the collections of the Allan Matsuura, K., K. Sakai and T. Yoshino. 1993. Records of two Hancock Foundation. Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions diodontid fi she s, Cy clichthy s o rbiculør is andC. spilo stylus, fr orn 9(8):215-237. japan. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology a0(3): 372-376. Whitehead, P .I.P . 1962. The species of Elops (Pisces: Elopidae). McCosker, I. E. 1987. The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Anrrals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 13, 5 : 321-329. Oceanus 30(2):28-32. E. McCosker, McCosker, I. E., K.Hatooka, K. Sasaki, and ]. T. Moyer. 1984. John CaliforniaAcademyof Sciences/ San japanese moray eels of the genus Uropterygius. japanese Francisco, California 94118, USA. Paul H. Humanry 4980 |ournal of Ichthyology 31(3): 261-267. SW 61st Avenue, Florida 33314 USA.

MOLECULAR GENETICS AND CONSERVATION IN THE GALAPAGOS

By: Kornelia Rassmann

INTRODUCTION andthe gene composition of a species orpopulation serve as a record of the evolutionary events that occurred in its For more than a century Galápagos has served evolu- past and thus provide information on its historical - or tionarybiologists as a natural laboratory for their studies. phylogenetic - background. A major goal has been to describe the unique morpholog- I¡r a rather sad way, population genetic and phyloge- ical and behavioral adaptations evolved by the diverse netic theory may become increasingly important for the life forms of Galápagos organisms in response to their practical aspects of research in the Galápagos. Over the forbidding environment and to understand how these past few centuries the populations of several endemic or specializations have come about. Because the basic mate- native species declined, bringing some of them close to rial of evolutionary changes are genes, understanding the extinction and extirpating a few. The major reasons for genetic mechanisms of these processes has been an im- these declines include predationby feral animals, habitat portant step. Models derived from theories of population destruction and competition for resources by non-indig- genetics can illustrate the processes influencing the ge- enous plants and animals introduced to the islands by netic composition of populations or species, and therefore humans, and human exploitation of indigenous species constitute an important part of current evolutionary re- andtheirnaturalhabitat (Trillmich 1992). Of course, there search. These models attempt to describe the current are also non-human-induced causes threatening GaIápa- genetic status of evolutionary systems, e.g. the amount of gos' fauna and flora. Sudden catastrophic events such as genetic variation within or among populations, and esti- volcanic eruptions or epidemic diseases may endanger mate the future prospects of populations with regard to specific populations. Of more global nature are environ- their genetic composition. At the same time, the genes mental changes such as the recurrent El Niño events -