Redescription of Hyphessobrycon flammeusMyers, 1924 (Ostariophysi: Characidae), a threatened species from Brazil

Fernando R Carvalho,Francisco Langeani,Guilherme C De Jesus

doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20130197

Fernando R Carvalho, Francisco Langeani + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-20130197

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Abstract

One of the most gorgeous colored and endangered Hyphessobryconspecies, H. flammeus Myers, is redescribed. Diagnostic characters of the species are two vertically elongated humeral spots, no caudal peduncle blotch, 5-8 maxillary teeth, caudal fin hyaline, and longitudinal dark stripe of the body absent. Sexual dimorphism is present, with males being more colored than females and having bony hooks in the anal and pelvic fins, which are dark in their terminal portions. Comments about its occurrence in the upper rio Tietê drainage (upper rio Paraná basin), its conservation status, and the phylogenetic position into Characidae context are also presented.

Highlights

Hyphessobrycon Durbin is one of the richest genus of Characidae, with more than 130 species, many described in this century (e.g., Lima & Moreira, 2003; Carvalho & Bertaco, 2006)
The species was described by Myers (1924) from some aquarium specimens that had been identified as H. bifasciatus Ellis
The artificial classification presented by Géry (1977) is a convenience to group the species in the genus according to the color pattern, but not expressing the common ancestry of all taxa currently housed in Hyphessobrycon

Summary

Introduction

Hyphessobrycon Durbin is one of the richest genus of Characidae, with more than 130 species, many described in this century (e.g., Lima & Moreira, 2003; Carvalho & Bertaco, 2006). In Brazil, there are three threatened species of Hyphessobrycon: Hyphessobrycon duragenys Ellis, H. flammeus Myers, and H. taurocephalus Ellis (Lima & Moreira, 2008) All these species are poorly described, their distribution is uncertain, and limited data are available in the literature about biology/ecology and distribution. H. flammeus composes the list of Brazilian freshwater fish endangered species (Machado et al, 2005; Lima & Moreira, 2008) This situation requires efforts to understand its identity, geographic distribution, and ecological/biological data, necessary for the establishment of public policies to its effective conservation. We present a redescription of H. flammeus, with details about its geographical distribution and comments about its phylogenetic relationships in the Characidae context (sensu Mirande, 2010)

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