Crenicichla ploegi, a new species of pike-cichlid of the C. saxatilis group from the Rio Juruena and upper Rio Paraguai basins in Brazil, with an updated diagnosis and biogeographical comments on the group (Teleostei: Cichlidae)
By Varella, Henrique Rosa & M.V. Loeb, F.C.T. Lima, S.O. Kullander
Zootaxa, v. 4377(n. 3), pp. 361–386 02-Feb-2018. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4377.3.3
" Crenicichla ploegi, new species, is described based on material from the Rio Juruena (Rio Papagaio, Rio do Sangue, Rio Arinos, and Rio Juruena itself) and from tributaries of the upper Rio Paraguai (upper Rio Jauru, upper Rio Cabaçal and upper Rio Sepotuba) in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Crenicichla ploegi is the twenty-third species of the C. saxatilis group. It is distinguished from all other species of the group by the presence of dark spots and vermiculations on snout, inter-orbital area and dorsally on head in adults vs. dark markings absent or present only in juveniles but absent in adults, and by the presence of a deep and strongly pigmented lateral band present in both juveniles and adults, occupying a depth of 4–6 horizontal scale rows vs. lateral band narrower, occupying a depth of 2–3 horizontal scale rows, and conspicuous only in juveniles and smaller specimens, faded or absent in larger specimens. Diagnostic characteristics of the C. saxatilis group proposed in previous studies were discussed to update the diagnosis of the group, and morphological comparisons among the species included in the group, with bio-geographical comments, are provided. The presence of conspicuous dark markings dorsally on the head and the presence of a prominent mid-lateral band are hypothesized to be paedomorphic characteristics, retained from juvenile conditions in the context of the species of the C. saxatilis group "
Classification: Taxonomy and phylogeny, South America.
Language: English
Reference in bibliography for species (33)
Name substitutions
- Crenicichla alta referred to as Crenicichla alta, Crenicichla pterogramma.
- Crenicichla brasiliensis referred to as Crenicichla menezesi [p. 382], Cichlasoma brasiliensis [p. 382].
- Crenicichla lepidota referred to as Crenicichla lepidota, Crenicichla edithae.
- Crenicichla proteus referred to as Crenicichla nijsseni, Batrachops nemopterus, Crenicichla proteus argynnis, Crenicichla proteus.
- Crenicichla saxatilis referred to as Sparus pavo, Scarus pavoninus, Crenicichla saxatilis, Sparus biocellatus.
- Crenicichla semicincta referred to as Crenicichla clancularia.
- Crenicichla vaillanti referred to as Crenicichla alta.
Varella, Henrique Rosa & M.V. Loeb, F.C.T. Lima, S.O. Kullander. 2018. "Crenicichla ploegi, a new species of pike-cichlid of the C. saxatilis group from the Rio Juruena and upper Rio Paraguai basins in Brazil, with an updated diagnosis and biogeographical comments on the group (Teleostei: Cichlidae)". Zootaxa. v. 4377(n. 3), pp. 361–386. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4377.3.3 (crc08403) (abstract)