Authors
Erwan Delrieu‐Trottin, Hans Hartmann‐Salvo, Pablo Saenz‐Agudelo, Mauricio F Landaeta, Alejandro Pérez‐Matus
Publication date
2022/2
Journal
Journal of fish biology
Volume
100
Issue
2
Pages
507-518
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Description
The blenniids of the genus Scartichthys are one of the most common fishes of Central and South American Pacific coastal reefs. This being said, Scartichthys spp. remain difficult to identify in the field, and identification is particularly challenging across the c. 6000 km where three of the four currently accepted species are known to occur in sympatry. A reason for this is that the main taxonomic characters from traditional taxonomy are indeed elusive. In addition, at the same time, species can display multiple colour patterns in the field, depending on their ontogenetic stage, habitat association and reproductive behaviour. Overall, molecular characterization is warranted to help address these issues. In this study, the authors have used a novel approach to revise the genus by combining colouration, morphological and molecular data of representative specimens of the four currently valid species and seven described …
Total citations
20212022202320241132