Abstract
Recently, a barcoding study and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Cuban species of the cave-fish genus Lucifuga Poey, 1858 revealed the existence of different evolutionary lineages that were previously unknown or passed unnoticed by morphological scrutiny (i.e., cryptic candidate species). In the present study, Lucifuga gibarensis is described as a new species restricted to anchialine caves in the northeastern karst region of the main island. The species was earlier described as a variety of Lucifuga dentata, but since the name was introduced as a variety after 1960, it is deemed to be infrasubspecific and unavailable according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Art. 15.2. The new species differs from L. dentata by pigmented eyes vs. eyes absent and lack of palatine teeth vs. present. Lucifuga gibarensis seems to be most similar to the Bahamian species L. lucayana by showing pigmented eyes, 13 or 14 precaudal vertebrae and ten caudal fin rays. However, differs from it by a larger size of the pigmented eye (1.1–1.9 vs. 0.9–1.0% SL) and number of posterior lateral line neuromasts (30–33 vs. 34–35).
Highlights
Lucifuga Poey, 1858 is a conspicuous genus of obligate cave-dwelling fishes, currently recognised with six species distributed in Cuba and Bahamas (Nielsen et al 1999; Møller et al 2006, 2016; see comparative material)
Since the description of the genus and the two first Cuban species by Felipe Poey (1858), the studies dealing with the genus are very few and have mainly been dedicated to the discussions of morphological characters of taxonomic interest for the genus and species and the descriptions of new species (Gill 1863; Nalbant 1981; Díaz-Pérez et al 1987a, 1987b; Díaz-Pérez 1988); some aspects of feeding and reproductive system (Lane 1903; Eigenmann 1909; Thinès and Piquemal 1978; García-Debrás and Pérez 1999) and two studies that constituted the first approximation to the evolutionary relationships of the group based on a comparison of several morphological characters of the three species known at that time (Vergara 1980, 1981)
In the present study, based on the molecular results of García-Machado et al (2011) and from revisiting the morphological characters recently used to define species in the genus (Møller et al 2006), we present a new formal description of the species as Lucifuga gibarensis sp. nov
Summary
Lucifuga Poey, 1858 is a conspicuous genus of obligate cave-dwelling fishes, currently recognised with six species distributed in Cuba and Bahamas (Nielsen et al 1999; Møller et al 2006, 2016; see comparative material). It was indicated that the separation in Cuban and Bahamian species as suggested by Møller et al (2006) is no longer correct, since some of the new Cuban species are more closely related to Bahamian species than to other Cuban species Their results questioned the specific status of Lucifuga teresinarum Diaz, 1988, showing no difference to L. subterranea Poey, 1858 (see Lara et al 2010). In the present study, based on the molecular results of García-Machado et al (2011) and from revisiting the morphological characters recently used to define species in the genus (Møller et al 2006), we present a new formal description of the species as Lucifuga gibarensis sp. nov
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