Checklist of freshwater fishes from Loreto, Peru

Vanessa Meza-Vargas,Max Hidalgo,Junior Chuctaya,Hernán Ortega Torres,Dario R. Faustino-Fuster

doi:10.15381/rpb.v28iespecial.21911

Abstract

This study presents an extensive review of published and unpublished occurrence records of fish species in the Loreto department. Located in the northeast of the country, Loreto is the most geographically extensive region in the Peruvian territory. Despite the increase in fish collections in Loreto in recent years, the ichthyofauna of this department needs to be more documented. Based on a database of scientific collections and bibliographic information, an updated checklist of the freshwater fishes from Loreto is presented. The results reveal a rich and diversified ichthyofauna, with 873 species distributed in 331 genera, 50 families and 15 orders. The main groups are Characiformes (42.6%), Siluriformes (34.8%), Gymnotiformes (8.6%) and Cichliformes (7.4%). Part of the ichthyofauna has restricted distribution for Loreto (4.7%). In addition, 9.0% of species from Loreto are used in fisheries. Meanwhile, 219 species (25%) were categorized according to the IUCN criteria where only six species (0.7%) are currently considered threatened species (CR, EN or VU). The results presented in this work indicate that this department needs more studies to know the biodiversity of fish, likewise, the information presented constitutes a contribution to the knowledge of fish diversity that would support environmental management actions and decision-making aimed at conserving one of the most diverse departments of Peru.

Highlights

The Amazon drainage is the largest basin in the world and the major component of the Neotropical region
This annotated checklist reveals that the ichthyofauna in Loreto is composed of 873 valid species (Appendix 2), which included 38 new species described in the last eight years (Ortega et al 2012) and taxonomic changes like transfers, synonyms, and distribution range extensions
Most of the ichthyofauna belongs to Otophysi (Cypriniformes, Characiformes, Silurformes, and Gymnotiformes) representing 86.0% (750 species), with Characiformes being the most diverse order (372, species, 42.6%), followed by Siluriformes (304, species, 34.8%), and Gymnotiformes (75, species, 8.6%); and with addition of Cichliformes (65, species, 7.4%)

Summary

Introduction

The Amazon drainage is the largest basin in the world and the major component of the Neotropical region. Besides its vastness in area, the Amazon basin possesses distinct physiognomies formed by geological backgrounds, diversity of rivers and soils (Dagosta & de Pinna 2018); and overall warm and humid Amazonian climate (Leite & Rogers 2013). These factors are associated with an enormous diversity of flora and fauna, comprising the richest ecosystem on the planet (Dagosta & de Pinna 2019). Several efforts have been made to describe species and update lists of species by countries (Ortega & Vari 1986, Maldonado et al 2008, Matamorros et al 2009, Ortega et al 2012, Mol et al 2012, Le Bail et al 2012, Barriga 2012, Angulo et al 2013, Koerber & Litz 2014, Sarmiento et al 2014, Mirande & Koerber 2015, Koerber et al 2017, DoNascimiento et al 2017) basins (Lasso et al 2016, Ohara et al 2017, Beltrão et al 2019), regions (Jimenez-Prado et al 2015, Van Der Sleen & Albert 2017, Dagosta & de Pinna 2019), and states (Bertaco et al 2016, Dos Reis et al 2020, Teixeira el al. 2020) along the Neotropical region

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Conclusion