MARINE FISHES OF THE AZORES: AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY. RICARDO SERRÃO SANTOS, FILIPE MORA PORTEIRO & JOÃO PEDRO BARREIROS SANTOS, RICARDO SERRÃO, FILIPE MORA PORTEIRO & JOÃO PEDRO BARREIROS 1997. Marine fishes of the Azores: An annotated checklist and bibliography. Arquipélago. Life and Marine Sciences Supplement 1: xxiii + 242pp. Ponta Delgada. ISSN 0873-4704. ISBN 972-9340-92-7. A list of the marine fishes of the Azores is presented. The list is based on a review of the literature combined with an examination of selected specimens available from collections of Azorean fishes deposited in museums, including the collection of fish at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores (Horta). Personal information collected over several years is also incorporated. The geographic area considered is the Economic Exclusive Zone of the Azores. The list is organised in Classes, Orders and Families according to Nelson (1994). The scientific names are, for the most part, those used in Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean (FNAM) (Whitehead et al. 1989), and they are organised in alphabetical order within the families. Clofnam numbers (see Hureau & Monod 1979) are included for reference. Information is given if the species is not cited for the Azores in FNAM. Whenever available, vernacular names are presented, both in Portuguese (Azorean names) and in English. Synonyms, misspellings and misidentifications found in the literature in reference to the occurrence of species in the Azores are also quoted. The 460 species listed, belong to 142 families; 12 species are cited for the first time for the Azores. Details are given for 23 other species cited for the first time for the Azores in the Red Book of Portuguese Vertebrates (ICN 1993). Fifty-four ambiguous and/or exceptional occurrences are included in an appendix. A second appendix contains the remaining corrections to the checklist of fish included in ICN (1993). The paper concludes with a synthesis and an annotated indexed bibliography of the marine fishes of the Azores. Most references are available through the library of the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores. SANTOS, RICARDO SERRÃO, FILIPE MORA PORTEIRO & JOÃO PEDRO BARREIROS 1997. Peixes marinhos dos Açores: Lista de espécies e bibliografia anotadas. Arquipélago. Ciências Biológicas e Marinhas Suplemento 1: xxiii + 242pp. Ponta Delgada. ISSN 0873-4704. ISBN 972-9340-92-7. No presente trabalho apresentamos uma lista dos peixes marinhos dos Açores. Esta lista é baseada numa revisão da literatura combinada com o estudo de espécimes depositados nas colecções de alguns museus, incluindo a colecção de peixes do Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas da Universidade dos Açores (Horta). Informações pessoais e conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo dos anos, são também incorporados. A área geográfica considerada é a da Zona Económica Exclusiva dos Açores. A lista está organizada em Classes, Ordens e Famílias, ordenadas segundo Nelson (1994). Os nomes científicos dos géneros e das espécies são, na sua maioria, Santos, Porteiro & Barreiros adoptados da obra Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean (FNAM) (Whitehead et al. 1989), e estão organizados por ordem alfabética dos géneros e espécies. Os números Clofnam (vd. Hureau & Monod 1979) são referidos na ficha das espécies, assim como a indicação se a espécie não é citada para os Açores no FNAM. São fornecidas as designações vernaculares das espécies nos Açores. Os sinónimos e as ortografias e identificações incorrectas, referidos na literatura para os Açores são também incluídos nas fichas das espécies. Das 460 espécies referidas, pertencentes a 142 famílias, 12 são citadas pela primeira vez para os Açores. As informações referentes a outras 23 espécies, referidas pela primeira vez para os Açores no Livro Vermelho dos Vertebrados de Portugal (ICN 1993), são elucidadas. Cinquenta e quatro espécies de ocorrência excepcional e/ou ambígua são incluídas num primeiro apêndice. Num segundo apêndice são incluídas as restantes correções à lista de peixes publicada em ICN (1993). O artigo termina com uma síntese de conclusões e uma bibliografia anotada e classificada sobre os peixes marinhos dos Açores. A maioria destas referências estão disponíveis através da Biblioteca do Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas da Universidade dos Açores. Ricardo Serrão Santos & Filipe Mora Porteiro, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, PT-9900 Horta (Açores) Portugal - João Pedro Barreiros Departamento de Ciência Agrárias, Universidade dos Açores, PT-9700 Angra do Heroísmo (Açores) Portugal. INTRODUCTION The Archipelago of the Azores, located between 37º- 40º latitude North and 24º- 32º longitude West is the most isolated and extensive island group in the north-eastern Atlantic. The islands are of volcanic origin. They are situated at the edge of the mid-Atlantic ridge at the junction of the American, Eurasian and African tectonic plates. Their formation probably commenced in the late Miocene and has continued to the present time. It is still uncertain if the islands of the Azores were formed at the mid-Atlantic ridge, and then drifted away, or if they are intraplate products (Nunn 1994). Santos et al. (1995c) review of the main aspects of marine research and conservation in the Azores highlighted the need for comprehensive catalogues of the marine fauna and flora and point out the importance of the Azores as a natural biogeographic laboratory. The fishes of the Azores have been widely and regularly studied since the nineteenth century (see Martins 1990 and Santos et al. 1995c). Most of the earlier research was land-based scientific expeditions (e.g. the Voyage d’Exploration Scientifique aux îles Açores on the behalf of His Majesty the King of Portugal in the year of 1857: see Drouët 1858, 1861a,b; and the German expedition lead by Simroth: see Hilgendorf 1888b) and oceanographic cruises of major historical and scientific relevance. These include the round of the World cruise of the British H. M. S. “Challenger” (see Tizard et al. 1885)1, the cruises by the American steamer “Albatross” (see Goode & Bean 1895), the French ships “Travailleur” and “Talisman” (Vaillant 1888), the Norwegian 1 During the major oceanographic expedition of the H. M. S. “Challenger” a few stations were made in the region of the Azores in the summer of 1873. The ship also made two stops, one in Faial and the other in São Miguel. However, the only fish species that seem to have been collected in the area was Cupiceps gracilis. No deep-sea fishes were mentioned by Günther (1887) from the Azores. 2 Marine fishes of the Azores steamer “Michael Sars” (see Murray & Hjort 1912), the yachts “Hirondelle”, “Princesse-Alice” and “Hirondelle II” (see e.g. Richard 1900, 1934; Albert Ier de Monaco 1904), the Royal Danish research ship “Dana” (see Jespersen & Tåning 1934) and the Swedish four-masted motor-schooner MS “Albatross” (see Christiansson 1957 and Pettersson 1957). The fishes collected during these cruises were studied by some of the most prominent ichthyologists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The cruises promoted by Prince Albert Ier of Monaco on his yachts concentrated on the Azores region. They contributed to the development of international scientific co-operation at both the national (see e.g. Carpine-Lancre & Saldanha 1992) and regional (see e.g. Ferreira 1937b) levels and they lead to the enhancement and growth of several branches of physical and natural marine sciences in mainland Portugal and in the Azores (see Saldanha et al. -eds.- 1992). Fishes of the Azores have also been reported by expeditions which have stopped and collected specimens in the Azores: e.g. the United States Eclipse Expedition to West Africa in 1889 (see Fowler 1919) and the Deutschen Südpolar- Expedition in 1901-1903 (see Lampe 1914), and other cruises in the North Atlantic including the Sargasso Sea Eel Expedition in 1979 of the F.R.V. “Anton Dohrn” (see Post & Tesch 1982), the fifth cruise of the French R/V “Président-Théodore- Tissier” in 1936, the exploratoty fishing cruise of the R/V “Delaware” in 1963 (Haedrich 1964), and several cruises to study bathypelagic fishes of the U. S. A. R/V “Atlantis II” and R/V “Chain” (see Backus & Craddock 1977). Few nineteenth century Portuguese scientists referred to fishes from the Azores. F. B. Capello (1871a,b,c) initiated a catalogue of the fish deposited at the Museum of Lisbon but died before concluding that work. Thus despite the broad all-encompassy titles, he mentioned on two specimens of Hippocampus sp. from the Azores. His work was followed by A. R. P. Guimarães, who became the first Portuguese scientist to document Azorean fishes (Guimarães 1882, 1884). Also deserving attention are Ramos (1869), an army physician, who compiled a list of fish of the Azores strictly based on Drouët (1861b) and A. da S. Sampaio, another doctor of medicine whose book is dedicated to the Terceira Island and gives a long list of fishes, some of which were new (Sampaio 1904). Despite having some historical interest these two works were not innovative and taxonomically questionable. The field of Azorean ichthyology was enriched by the work of two resident para-taxonomists, the Azorean priest Ernesto Ferreira, who published several important and carefully prepared papers on selected groups of fishes of the Azores (e.g. Ferreira 1937a, 1938, 1939, 1942) and B. L. Collins an officer of the Western Union Company based in Horta (Faial), who compiled a complete list of the fishes of the Azores, based on a review of literature and a few new additions (Collins 1954). Collins, while working on the fishes of the Azores, maintained a close correspondence and exchange of specimens with G. E. Maul of the Museu Municipal do Funchal. Maul was the professional ichthyologist who supervised the list of marine fishes published by Collins and gave Collins many identifications, corrections and much general advice.