Five new species of Western Atlantic stardrums, Stellifer (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) with a key to Atlantic Stellifer species
Author
Chao, Ning Labbish
0000-0002-0474-8740
National Museum of Marine Biology, Pingtung, Taiwan; Bio-Amazonia Conservation International, Brookline, MA, USA. https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 0474 - 8740
Author
Carvalho-Filho, Alfredo
0000-0002-2903-7355
Fish Bizz Ltda, R. D. Maria Garcez, n. 39, 05424 - 070, Pinheiros, São Paulo, Brazil. https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 2903 - 7355
Author
Santos, Jonas De Andrade
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia) - Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Sistemática e Ecolo-
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-06-25
4991
3
434
466
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4991.3.2
1175-5326
5042387
2DE8BCED-7F34-4A5D-9F2D-16F442D8273A
Conclusions on
Stellifer
and sciaenid taxonomy
The subfamily
Stelliferinae
is unique within
Sciaenidae
by having a two-chambered gas bladder and an enlarged pair of lapillus, about the same size as the sagitta. Both characters are also present in the Indo-West Pacific
Johnius
(tribe
Johniini
) which has a slightly enlarged lapillus but less than one-third the size of the sagitta, they also have an expanded anterior end of the gas bladder (
Chao 1986
;
Chao
et al.
2019
). Thus, because they are distant in sciaenid phylogeny, their share a last common ancestor dating from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene expansions (
Lo
et al.
2015
), these characters are probably convergent.
In this study, we found that
Stellife
r species (e.g.
S. collettei
) can show significant geographic variation. Recent studies of Southwestern Atlantic sciaenids, such as
Bairdiella
(
Marceniuk
et al.
2019
)
,
Macrodon
(
Carvalho-Filho
et al.
2010
)
,
Menticirrhus
(
Marceniuk
et al.
2020
)
, and
Isopisthus
(
Guimarães-Costa
et al.
2020
)
have shown that cryptic species are not uncommon. These studies demonstrated that the hidden diversity is often found in species caught as fisheries by-catch, reinforcing the need for detailed studies on taxonomy and zoogeography that can lead to better conservation management. We expect that
Stellifer
and widely distributed sciaenids (e.g.
Cynoscion
and
Micropogonias
) might have similar patterns, when samples become available for further molecular and morphological study.