Origins of the Surinamese Freshwater Fish Fauna

Abstract

The margins of the Neotropical realm are remarkably clear, with respect to freshwater fishes. Only a few Neotropical lineages, have dispersed as far north as northern Mexico and southernmost Texas, and there are only a dozen or so Neotropical freshwater fishes known from the northern pampas of Argentina. Data pertaining to the origins of Neotropical freshwater fishes are available from (1)molecular studies such as analyses of DNA sequences,(2) geographic distributions and (3) fossils. The largest geological features of the Neotropics are (1) the eastern South American Platform, an ancient Precambrian block of continental crust underlying all of Amazonia and adjacent,(2) the Andean orogenic belt and (3) the foreland basins to the east of the Andes Mountains. The eastern lobe of the Guiana Shield, including Suriname and French Guiana, is drained to the south by tributaries of the eastward flowing Amazon River and to the north by Atlantic coastal rivers. Keywords:Andean orogenic belt; French Guiana; Freshwater Fish; Guiana Shield; Neotropical; Suriname