Search

Systematic relationships within the Cirrhitoidei, a suborder of five closely related families, have been uncertain for over a century. This is particularly true in reference to the families Cheilodactylidae and Latridae, which have been revised numerous times over the past several decades. Species that have been included in these two families are found in temperate regions around the world, which has led to regionally-focused studies that have only exacerbated taxonomic confusion. Here we examine systematic relationships within the Cheilodactylidae and the Latridae using ultraconserved genomic elements with near complete taxonomic sampling, and place our results in the context of the Cirrhitoidei. Our results agree with previous findings suggesting that Cheilodactylidae is restricted to two South African species, with the type species of the family, Cheilodactylus fasciatus Lacépède, forming a clade with C. pixi Smith that together is more closely related to the Chironemidae than to other species historically associated with the genus. We also strongly resolve the relationships of species within the Latridae. As a result of our analyses we revise the taxonomy of Latridae, name a new genus, and re-elevate Chirodactylus and Morwong.

A check-list of the fishes of St Helena Island is presented. The following species are recorded for the first time from St. Helena Island: Rhincodon typus, Mobula tarapacana, Muraena melanotis, Caranx latus, Seriola rivoliana, Balistes capriscus, Lutjanus jocu, Centropyge aurantonotus, Acanthurus coeruleus, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, Tetrapturus pfluegeri, Coelorinchus geronimo, Pentaceros richardsoni, Gephyroberyx darwinii, Brotula cf multibarbata, Poromitra crassiceps, Echiostoma barbatum, Malacosteus niger, Pachystomias microdon. Including these nineteen new records there are 189 fish species currently known from St Helena. Three of them appear to be undescribed. Eight species and two subspecies are currently considered endemic to St. Helena Island. Darwin Initiative [19-031] Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Environmental Management Department (EMD) of St Helena Government Centro de Ciencias do Mar FCT-Foundation for Science and TechnologyPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/Multi/04326/2013]

The current checklist provides for each species of the Red Sea its records in the Gulf of Suez, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea main basin and its general distribution.This new checklist of Red Sea fishes enumerates 1207 species, representing 164 families. Of these, 797 species were recorded from the Gulf of Aqaba and 339 from the Gulf of Suez. The number of species from the Gulf of Suez is evidently lower than the actual number not including 27 Lessepsian (Red Sea) migrants to the Mediterranean that most likely occur in the Gulf. The current list includes 73 species that were newly described for science since the last checklist of 2010. The most specious Osteichthyes families are: Gobiidae (134 species), Labridae (66), Apogonidae (59), Serranidae (including Anthiadinae) (44), Blenniidae (42), Carangidae (38), Muraenidae (36), Pomacentridae (35), Syngnathidae (34), Scorpaenidae (24) and Lutjanidae (23). Among the families of Chondrichthyes, the most specious families are the Carcharhinidae (18 species) and Dasyatidae (11). The total number of endemic species in the Red Sea is 174 species, of these, 34 species are endemic to the Gulf of Aqaba and 8 to the Gulf of Suez.

For the first time, the catalog of type specimens of ICN-MHN is presented with high resolution photographs. The catalog lists 87 species in 161 lots and includes 41 holotypes, 3 neotypes, and 117 lots of paratypes. Some doubts remain about type specimens of some species described by Miles and Dahl that were supposedly deposited at ICN-MHN. The history of the collection is reconstructed and valuable specimens once considered lost or destroyed have been rediscovered. The botanical and zoological collections of the ICN can be consulted online (http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co).