HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74
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ISSN 0326-1778 (Impresa) ISSN 1853-6581 (En Línea) HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74 THE CURRENT SITUATION OF Rhamdia BLEEKER, 1858 (SILURIFORMES: HEPTAPTERIDAE) – GATHER AVAILABLE INFORMATION, DEFINE A ZERO POINT, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN La situación actual de Rhamdia Bleeker, 1858 (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) – reunir la información disponible, definir un punto inicial y empezar desde cero. Stefan Koerber1 and Roberto E. Reis2 1Independent researcher. Friesenstr. 11, 45476 Muelheim, Germany. [email protected], www.pecescriollos.de 2 Laboratório de Sistemática de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga, 6681, 90619-900 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. [email protected] HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/41-50 51 KOERBER S. AND REIS R. Abstract. The taxonomy of Rhamdia is one of the most confuse among South American catfishes. Reasons are the poorly defined species, including its type-speciesR. sebae, some old description from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a weak set of characters used to diagnose species. The situation is further complicated by the high number of species synonymized to R. quelen, and the fact that five of them: Pimelodus quelen, Pimelodus namdia, Pimelodus sebae, Heterobranchus sextentaculatus, and Silurus rivularis share the same neotype specimen. To facilitate access to the information on these species, originally written in Latin, German, or French, the original texts and their respective translations into English, and relevant figures, are provided. Key words. Heptapteridae, Rhamdia, synonyms, neotype. Resumen. La taxonomía de Rhamdia es una de las más complejas entre los bagres sudamericanos. Esto se debe a que las especies del género están mal definidas, incluida la especie tipo R. sebae, y se basan en descripciones antiguas de los siglos XVIII y XIX, y las características útiles para distinguir las especies son débiles. Esta situación se complica aún más por la gran cantidad de especies sinonimizadas con R. quelen, y el hecho de que cinco de ellas: Pimelodus quelen, Pimelodus namdia, Pimelodus sebae, Heterobranchus sextentaculatus y Silurus rivularis comparten el mismo neotipo. Con el objetivo de acceder a la información sobre estas especies, originalmente escrita en Latín, Alemán o Francés, se proporcionan aquí los textos originales y sus respectivas traducciones al inglés, y se proporcionan algunas figuras relevantes. Palabras clave. Heptapteridae, Rhamdia, sinonimos, neotipo. 52 HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74 THE CURRENT SITUATION OF Rhamdia INTRODUCTION a single specimen (NRM 16091) from the Amazon basin in Loreto, Peru, as a The title of this note may look surprising, common neotype for Pimelodus quelen but actually that is exactly what needs to Quoy & Gaimard, 1824, Pimelodus namdia be done when working on the taxonomy Cuvier, 1829, Pimelodus sebae Cuvier, 1829, of Rhamdia. Rhamdia is a genus with 27 Heterobranchus sextentaculatus Agassiz in valid species, with a poorly defined type Spix & Agassiz, 1829, and Silurus rivularis species, Pimelodus sebae Cuvier, 1829, and Larrañaga, 1923. no suitable set of characters to differentiate In order to make the statement from species. the title of the present paper possible, we The taxonomic situation of Rhamdia believe that the descriptions of the oldest was further complicated by the fact that species considered to be members of the Silfvergrip (1996), in the only taxonomic genus Rhamdia must be available in English. revision of the genus to date, synonymized Therefore we herein provide some original 47 nominal species into Rhamdia quelen texts and their respective translations. This (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824). This action compilation is the initial contribution of established a very broad geographic a series of papers on Rhamdia taxonomy distribution for the species, from Yukatan currently in preparation. in southern Mexico to central Argentina. The diagnosis of R. quelen proposed by Silfvergrip (1996), however, is too general to be useful and embraces several different HISTORICAL LITERATURE morphotypes, suggesting that a large ACCOUNTS ON THE SYNONYMS proportion of the genus diversity is masked OF Rhamdia quelen THAT SHARE THE under that single name. SAME NEOTYPE Subsequent authors revalidated some of the species synonymized with R. quelen by Most historical texts regarding the first Silfvergrip (1996), Rhamdia guatamalensis (by information and details on species of Espinosa-Pérez et al., 1993), R. cinarascens Rhamdia were written in Latin, French, or (by Perdices et al., 2002), R. saijaensis (by German. Translations to these early works Hernández et al., 2015, who also presented are provided in order to facilitate access additional evidence on the validity of the to such old information. The original previous two species), and R. branneri descriptions have been translated as far and R. voulezi (by Garavello & Shibatta, as possible literally, without introducing 2016). In addition to those revalidations, interpretations, and maintaining the seven new species have been described original meanings. Comments from the after the revision of Silfvergrip (1996), five translators or the authors or words missing of which from the area of distribuition of in the source text are included in square the expanded R. quelen, making Rhamdia brackets. As it can never be guaranteed one of the most taxonomically complex that translations reflect the source texts heptapterid genera. precisely, especially giving the old age of In addition to lumping nearly four such writings, the original texts are also dozens of taxa in the synonymy of Rhamdia offered as transcriptions. quelen, Silfvergrip (1996) also assigned The translations below should make HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74 HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74 53 KOERBER S. AND REIS R. future research easier as before any anum duas junctas oblongas, in extremitate progress on the diversity within Rhamdia circinatas: versus caudam in inferiore ventre can be investigated, the ‘old’ species need unam fere quadratum & in extremitate to be defined properly. Extracts from some circinatum in summitate dorsi magnam later works originally published in English quadratam multis spinis suffultam, & are provided as transcriptions if these post illam unam longam angustam, cute present comments on the early authors carnosa constantem, qua & corpus est or information on the distribution of the tectum. Cauda bisecta est & quaelibet species. Where available, figures published pars in exitu circinata. Cute tegitur non with the original texts are included and, if squamis. Caput dura testa tectum, osque necessary, have been treated graphically superius totum umbrae coloris: dorsum for improvement. & latera cinerei cum pauxillo caeruleo mixti : venter albus : pinna dorsalis prior prope exortum ejusdem coloris, caetera 1. Markgraf (1648) in totum nigri, spinis cinereis : posterior ejusdem coloris cum dorso & lateralibus : Original text (pages 149-150; figure 1). pinnae postbranchiales totae nigrae : barba Nhamdia Brasiliensibus, Bagre do Rio nigra, uti & pinnae ventris & cauda, licet vocatur à Lusitanis, piscis corpore oblongo, in exortu paululum ruffae. A summitate obeso, ventre molli, versus posteriora branchiarum per quodlibet latus tendit in angustiori. Capite compresso & ore medio linea rubra usque ad caudae initium. parabolicae figurae & denticulis minimis praedito. Est autem corpus duodecim Translation. Nhamdia of the Brazilians, aut quatuordecim digitos longu, duos & called Bagre do Rio by the Lusitanians semis altum, ubi altissimum. Oculi parvuli, [Portuguese], fish with an elongate, fat paululum protuberantes, rotundi, pupilla body, a smooth belly becoming thinner nigra, circulo ex auro & umbra mixto. posteriorly, a flat head, an arched mouth Branchiae satis amplae, & barba sex filis equipped with minute denticles. Moreover constans duobus supra & quatuor infra the body is 12 or 14 fingers long and os: eorum quae supra os versus latus stant two and a half, where it is highest. Small quodlibet crassitiem habet fili quo literae eyes, slightly protruding, roundish, black obsignantur, quinque digitos longum & pupil with a golden brown ring. Gill post cujusque exortum fovea est oblonga, [openings?] quite large, the barb consisting in quam barbae initium incumbit, vertendo of six threads [barbels], two of which illam postica parte, ut semper facit: quatuor above and one below the mouth, each of inferiorum quodlibet exterius duos & semis those [barbels] positioned laterally above digitos longum, interius sesquidigitum; the mouth has roughly the thickness of a suntque inferiora fila barbae non ita crassa thread with which letters are sealed, five ut superiora. Pinnas habet septem & octava fingers long, and where it originates an est pro cauda: nimirum post quamlibet elongate pit is seen, in which the initial part branchiam unam oblongam, firmissima & of the barb lies, while permanently moving acuta spina munitam (quemadmodum & in the posterior part of it. More outward exortu ipsius post branchiam os durum est [each] of the four lower [barbels] is two and triangulare) ad medietatem corporis ante a half finger long, more inward one and a 54 HISTORIA NATURAL Tercera Serie Volumen 9 (2) 2019/51-74 THE CURRENT SITUATION OF Rhamdia half. The lower threads are not as thick as 2. Gronow (1754) the upper ones. It [the fish] has seven fins, the eighth is the tail; i.e. after each gill an Original