Biogeography

Abstract

1.  Biodiversity inventories and monitoring techniques for marine fishes often over-look small (<5  cm), bottom-associated (‘cryptobenthic’) fishes, and few stand-ardized, comparative assessments of cryptobenthic fish communities exist. We sought to develop a standardized, quantitative survey method for cryptobenthic fishes that permits their sampling across a variety of habitats and conditions.

2.  Fish-   specific autonomous reef monitoring structures (FARMS) are designed to sample cryptobenthic fishes using a suite of accessible and affordable materials. To generate a variety of microhabitats, FARMS consist of three layers of stacked PVC pipes in three different sizes, as well as a bottom and top level of loose PVC pipe fragments in a mesh basket. We deployed FARMS across a variety of habitats, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, oyster reefs, mangroves, and soft- bottom habitats across six locations (Hawai'i, Texas, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Curaçao).

3.  From shallow estuaries to coral reefs beyond 100 m depth, FARMS attracted distinct communities of native cryptobenthic fishes with strong site or habitat speci ficity. Comparing the FARMS to communities sampled with alternative methods (enclosed clove-oil stations on coral reefs in Panama and oyster sampling units on oyster reefs in Texas) suggests that FARMS yield a subset of cryptobenthic fishspecies that are representative of those present on local coral and oyster reefs. While FARMS yield fewer individuals per sample, they are efficient sampling de-vices relative to the sampled area.

4.  We demonstrate that FARMS represent a useful tool for standardized collections of cryptobenthic fishes. While natural substrata are bound to yield more mature communities with a larger number of individuals and wider range of specialist spe-cies, the potential to deploy and retrieve FARMS in turbid environments, beyond regular SCUBA depth, and where fish collections using anaesthetics or ichthyo-cides are forbidden suggests that they are a valuable complementary technique to survey fishes in aquatic ecosystems. Deploying FARMS in locations and habi-tats where cryptobenthic fish communities have not been studied in detail may yield many valuable specimens of unknown or poorly known species.KEYWORDSartificial habitat, biodiversity, biogeography, coral reef fishes, fish trap, fisheries-independent sampling, taxonomic inventory

Chaetopteridae forms a monophyletic clade showing an uncertain position within Annelida. The family has 75 ubiquitous species within four genera that cluster in two well-supported clades (Chaetopterus–Mesochaetopterus and Spiochaetopterus–Phyllochaetopterus) and includes several cryptic species complexes. Based on integrative taxonomy and supported by citizen science, here we describe one new and two unnamed species of Caribbean chaetopterids. Partial sequences from the nuclear 18S rRNA and mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I genes of all known chaetopterid genera allowed us to (1) discuss the phylogeny of the family and (2) assign the three species into Mesochaetopterus (two) and Phyllochaetopterus (one). Mesochaetopterus stinapa, sp. nov. clearly diverged from all species of the genus, whereas Mesochaetopterus aff. xerecus forms a separate clade with Mesochaetopterus rogeri (Europe) and Mesochaetopterus xerecus (Brazil). Phyllochaetopterus aff. verrilli forms a separate clade with Phyllochaetopterus arabicus (Red Sea) and the closely related sequences from Hawai’i, Australia and French Polynesia attributed to Phyllochaetopterus verrilli (or cf. verrilli). Despite observing differences in morphology (e.g. palp colour pattern, presence or absence of eyespots, chaetal morphology and arrangement) and biogeographical distributions, only the erection of M. stinapa as a new species is well supported by the genetic distance, barcoding gap and species discrimination analyses. Our results emphasise the existence of cryptic species complexes within Mesochaetopterus and Phyllochaetopterus, whose taxonomy will require further morphological, biogeographical and molecular data to be resolved.

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Correspondence to: dani@ceab.csic.es

A three-year field study (January 2011–December 2013) of the Odonata of Curaçao, supported by photos and exuvial collections, recorded a total of 21 species from the island, almost doubling its previously known fauna. The lists of Odonata known from Aruba and Bonaire were also updated by specimen and photo records, and 24 species are now known from these three islands. During the period of the study, odonates decreased in abundance and diversity in Curaçao, apparently because heavy rains just before the study began led to colonization of the island by several nonresident species that subsequently declined and disappeared as wetlands diminished during a period with normal rainfall.

Abstract:

Specimens of Starksia were collected throughout the western Atlantic, and a 650-bp portion of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase-c subunit I (COl) was sequenced as part of a re-analysis of species diversity of western Central Atlantic shorefishes. A neighbor-joining tree constructed from the sequence data suggests the existence of several cryptic species. Voucher specimens from each genetically distinct lineage and color photographs of vouchers taken prior to dissection and preservation were examined for diagnostic morphological characters. The results suggest that S. atlantica, S. lepicoelia, and S. sluiteri are species complexes, and each comprises three or more species. Seven new species are described. DNA data usually support morphological features, but some incongruence between genetic and morphological data exists. Genetic lineages are only recognized as species if supported by morphology. Genetic lineages within western Atlantic Starksia generally correspond to geography, such that members of each species complex have a very restricted geographical distribution. Increasing geographical coverage of sampling locations will almost certainly increase the number of Starksia species and species complexes recognized in the west- ern Atlantic. Combining molecular and morphological investigations is bringing clarity to the taxonomy of many genera of morphologically similar fishes and increasing the number of currently recognized species. Future phylogenetic studies should help resolve species relationships and shed light on patterns of speciation in western Atlantic Starksia.