Biota Colombiana ISSN: 0124-5376 [email protected] Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos "Alexander von Humboldt" Colombia Castellanos-Galindo, Gustavo Adolfo; Rubio Rincon, Efraín A.; Beltrán-León, Beatriz S.; Baldwin, Carole C. Check list of stomiiform, aulopiform and myctophiform fishes from Colombian waters of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Biota Colombiana, vol. 7, núm. 2, 2006, pp. 245-262 Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos "Alexander von Humboldt" Bogotá, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=49170205 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Biota Colombiana 7 (2) 245 - 262, 2006 Check list of stomiiform, aulopiform and myctophiform fishes from Colombian waters of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Gustavo Adolfo Castellanos-Galindo1,2, Efraín A. Rubio Rincon2, Beatriz S. Beltrán-León3, Carole C. Baldwin4 1 Museo Departamental de Ciencias Naturales, INCIVA. Calle 6 # 24 – 80. Cali – Colombia. [email protected] 2 Sección de Biología Marina, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle. A.A. 25360. Cali – Colombia. [email protected] 3 Unidad Administrativa Especial del Sistema de Parques Nacionales Naturales, Territorial Sur Occidente, Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial. Cali – Colombia. [email protected] 4 Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C. – USA. [email protected] Key words: Stomiiformes, Aulopiformes, Myctophiformes, Colombian Pacific, deep-sea fishes Introduction documented the early stages of many groups of deep-sea fishes in the Pacific, including several of the three orders Stomiiform, aulopiform and myctophiform fishes examined in this paper. are included in the Teleostei division and the Euteleostei subdivision of the chordate Actinopterygii class, and ac- stomiiform fishes inhabit the epi- and mesopelagic real- cording to the classification proposed by Nelson (2006), ms. They are generally less than five centimeters in leng- they make up three superorders: Stenopterygii (Stomii- th and are distributed in tropical and subtropical waters formes order), Cyclosquamata (Aulopiformes order), and around the world (Nelson 2006). There are more than 300 Scopelomorpha (Myctophiformes order), These orders do species grouped into 50 genera (Moser & Watson 1996). not make up a natural group within the Euteleostei, but Several phylogenetic hypotheses have been proposed ei- they can be grouped ecologically since many stomiiform, ther supporting or rejecting monophyly of the order and/or aulopiform, and myctophiform species are major compo- component families (Schultz 1961, Weitzman 1967, 1974, nents of the meso- and epipelagic oceanic fauna. Some of Fink & Weitzman 1984, Harold & Weitzman 1996, Ha- the species inhabit shallower and deeper areas. Taxono- rold 1993, 1998). Major morphological features of the or- mic and ecological knowledge of these groups in the Tro- der include the presence of luminescent organs; big jaws; pical Eastern Pacific (TEP) Ocean has been gained mostly and maxillary and premaxillary teeth. Some species have through international oceanographic research expeditions a barbel on the ventral side of the mouth, and most of them that have been undertaken since the late nineteenth cen- are dark brown, black and silver in color. There are four tury -- Albatross (U.S.), Dana (Denmark), EASTROPAC families in the order (Gonostomatidae, Sternoptychidae, (various U.S., Central and South American ships), and Phosichthydae and Stomiidae), all of them occurring in Russian expeditions aboard the Akademik Kurchatov, waters of the Colombian Pacific. Some authors consider Ob, Baikal, Lira and Proffesor Deryugii research vessels. Gonostomatidae as the most abundant fish family in the These expeditions have explored portions of the ocean world (see Nelson 2006, Moyle & Chech 1988). below 200 m, making knowledge accessible about deep- sea life that has not been recorded by any national agency Initially grouped within the Myctophiformes (Gosline et al. until date. Only a few studies of Colombian ichthyologists 1996), aulopiform fishes were defined, by Rosen (1973), as have reported on species belonging to these orders (Ster- a new order that included all the non-Ctenosquamate euryp- ling 1976, Rubio 1987, Beltrán-León & Rubio 1994). Ru- terygian fishes. The order includes at least 15 families (see bio (1987), for example, compiled information about the Rosen 1973, Baldwin & Johnson 1996, Sato & Nakabo distribution of many of the deep-sea fish species of the 2002), with several species represented in mesopelagic, ba- Colombian Pacific, many of them without a collection re- thypelagic and demersal zones of the ocean. Considerable gister in Colombian waters. Beltrán-León & Rios (2000) morphological variation exists within the order, including Biota Colombiana 7 (2), 2006 246- Stomiiform, Aulopiform and Myctophiforms from Colombian Pacifi c Castellanos-Galindo et al. compressed and elongated bodies, large eyes and mouths 1973, Nelson 2006). Most of these species live in waters with large teeth (Watson 1996a). The mesopelagic aulopi- between 100-200 meters of depth, and undertake nightly form families include Paralepididae, Omosudidae, Everman- vertical migrations in the water column. They are an essen- nellidae, Scopelarchidae and Alepisauridae. Species of these tial part of a mass vertical migration in all oceans, referred families are considered to be predators in their environment to as the Deep Scattering Layer. Myctophiforms are gene- and have essential roles inside trophic webs in their habitats rally small, have big eyes, and species-specific patterns of (Nelson 2006). Other families, including Chlorophthalmidae, photophores on the head and body. The order includes two Aulopidae and Synodontidae live in benthic habitats in conti- families, Myctophidae and Neoscopelidae, comprising nental shelves and shelf break zones, whereas the Ipnopidae approximately 240 species and 30 genera worldwide, with inhabit abyssal depths. Of the 15 aulopiform families, seven most of the species in the Myctophidae (lanternfishes). In of them are known to occur in waters of the Colombian Pa- the Colombian Pacific there are approximately 31 species cific (Aulopidae, Chlorophthalmidae, Ipnopidae, Scopelar- of Myctophidae and one of Neoscopelidae. chidae, Notosudidae, Synodontidae and Paralepididae), whi- le two other families (Alepisauridae and Evermannellidae) Most of the specimens collected in the Panamian provin- have been captured in adjacent waters and are likely to also ce of the TEP are deposited in natural history museums be found in our territorial sea. in the USA, Britain, Denmark and France. Our document compiles information from those museums and referen- Myctophiform fishes are abundant in terms of numbers of ces where there are registers of stomiiform, aulopiform species and individuals living within pelagic zones of the and myctophiform species in Pacific Colombian waters. open ocean (Hulley 1995, Moser 1996a). Some classifi- Moreover, we include registers from adjacent waters to cations have grouped them with aulopiforms; however, highlight species that may be distributed in our territory, myctophiforms lack the distinctive aulopiform arrange- but that, due to poor sampling efforts in deeper waters, ment of pharyngobranchials and epibranchials (Rosen have not yet been collected. Peces marinos de los ordenes Stomiiformes, Aulopiformes y Myctophiformes en aguas colombianas del Pacífico oriental tropical Gustavo Adolfo Castellanos-Galindo, Efraín A. Rubio Rincon, Beatriz S. Beltrán-León, Carole C. Baldwin Palabras Clave: Stomiiformes, Aulopiformes, Myctophiformes, Pacífico colombiano, peces de profundidad Los peces marinos de los ordenes Stomiiformes, y Proffesor Deryugii. Estas expediciones han explorado Aulopiformes y Myctophiformes están incluidos en la Di- porciones del océano por debajo de los 200 m, haciendo vision Teleostei y la Subdivisión Euteleostei de la Clase accesible el conocimiento de la vida en estas zonas que Actinopterygii. Hacen parte de tres superórdenes, Stenop- no ha sido obtenido por ninguna agencia nacional has- terygii (Order Stomiiformes), Cyclosquamata (Order Au- ta la fecha. Solo algunos estudios a cargo de ictiólogos lopiformes), y Scopelomorpha (Order Myctophiformes), nacionales han reportado ocasionalmente especies per- según la clasificación propuesta por Nelson (2006). Estos tenecientes a estos ordenes (Sterling 1976, Rubio1987, órdenes no forman un grupo natural dentro de los Eute- Beltrán-León & Rubio 1994). Por ejemplo, Rubio (1987) leostei, sin embargo, ecológicamente podrían agruparse recopiló información sobre la distribución de muchas es- pues la mayor parte de las especies que integran estos or- pecies de peces de profundidad del Pacífico colombiano, denes son componentes importantes de la fauna oceánica muchas de ellas sin un registro de colección en aguas meso- y epipelágica. Solo unas pocas especies ocupan zo- colombianas. Beltrán-León & Ríos (2000) documentaron nas más someras o más profundas. El conocimiento taxo- los estadios larvales de una gran cantidad de grupos de nómico y ecológico de estos grupos en el océano Pacifico zonas profundas, incluyendo muchas de las especies exa- oriental Tropical (POT) ha sido obtenido, en