Identification of early life-history stages of Caribbean Apogon (Perciformes: Apogonidae) through DNA Barcoding
Author
Baldwin, Carole C.
Author
Brito, Balam J.
Author
Smith, David G.
Author
Weigt, Lee A.
Author
Escobar-Briones, Elva
text
Zootaxa
2011
3133
1
36
journal article
45772
10.5281/zenodo.279426
a38a17de-34b0-47b8-893f-1488915b8b04
1175-5326
279426
Apogon
sp. 2
Identification.
No larvae or juveniles match the five unidentified adult specimens of this lineage in our genetic analysis (Appendix 1, one adult is shown in
Fig. 31
). The lineage clusters phenetically with
A. quadrisquamatus
,
A. mosavi
,
and
A. robbyi
(
Fig. 1
), and all of those species lack dark markings on the body. There is a concentration of pigment on the central area of the caudal peduncle that is primarily orange and contains few if any melanophores. In preserved specimens this may appear as a diffuse oval blotch of melanophores or no marking at all. In the other species, there is a distinct basicaudal bar (
A. mosavi
) or circular spot (
A. quadrisquamatus
and
A. robbyi
) of melanophores that is retained in preserved specimens. Specimens in this lineage usually have 13 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first arch vs. usually 14 or
15 in
A. mosavi
,
but additional material is needed to determine if there are modal differences in any counts. This lineage likely represents an undescribed species.