Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Crenicichla saxatilis species-group of Uruguay

This is a photolog of the Crenicichla saxatilis species-group of Uruguay. The relationships of these species to Crenicichla lepidota (from Rio Guapore, Bolivia) and Crenicichla saxatilis (from Suriname) is unknown. However, the Uruguayan "saxatilis" can be split into two groups according to geographic locality. Herein, I refer to the Rio Uruguay drainage fishes as C. cf. lepidota and the coastal drainage fishes as C. cf. saxatilis. The middle Rio Uruguay-drainage populations display red dorsal stripes (sometimes two) in females (e.g. Rio Uruguay, Rio Cuareim) while the lower Rio Uruguay populations display purple dorsal stripes in females (e.g. Rio Yi). All Rio Uruguay drainage fishes display 10-12 transversal bars. In contrast, the coastal populations display white dorsal stripes in females (e.g. Arroyo India Muerta, Arroyo las Pavas) and display 7-8 transversal bars. 

Crenicichla cf. lepidota "Rio Uruguay"


Crenicichla cf. lepidota "Canada de Sauce"
Crenicichla cf. lepidota "Arroyo de la Invernada"
Crenicichla cf. lepidota "Rio Yi"
Crenicichla cf. saxatilis "Arroyo India Muerta"




Crenicichla cf. saxatilis "Arroyo el Tigre"
Crenicichla cf saxatilis "Arroyo las Pavas"

E.D.B.

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