First records of freshwater fish species in Colombia: extending the distribution of 17 Amazonian and Orinoco fish species

Abstract

Based on a rigorous analysis of fish collections of the Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas (Sinchi) and new collections by us, we report new Colombian records and geographical range extensions for freshwater fish species. The new occurrences include representatives of four taxonomic orders, eight families, and 13 genera. Our findings expand the geographic ranges of fish species within the Amazon and Orinoco basins and include species reported from Colombia for the first time. This information is fundamental for completion of species inventories, as well as analyses of freshwater fish diversity patterns at macroecological scales. In addition, our data provide useful information for the formulation of strategies for the conservation, management, and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Fishes (Actinopterygii) of the rapids and associated environments in the lower Vaupés River Basin: an undiscovered Colombian Amazon diversity

“…This richness value is still under the predicted estimates that vary between 1,466 and 1,759 species (Beltrão et al 2019). Despite this, our expedition revealed new records for Colombia, and undescribed species to science, demonstrating that fish diversity in the region is still far from completely known (Bogotá-Gregory et al 2020).…”

“…This study records for the first time in Colombia the following four species: Myloplus lucienae Andrade, Ota, Bastos & Jégu, 2016, Tometes makue Jégu, Santos & Jégu, 2002 also a first record of the genus, Leptodoras praelongus (Myers & Weitzman, 1956), and Eigenmannia matintapereira Peixoto, Dutra & Wosiacki, 2015. These species were absent from recent lists of fish species of Colombia (DoNascimiento et al 2017(DoNascimiento et al , 2024Bogotá Gregory et al 2020, 2022a) (Fig. 3A-D).…”

“…The western Rio Negro tributaries are known for their distinctive rheophilic fish fauna (Lima et al 2005). A total of 224 fish species are known to occur in the Vaupés River in Colombia (Bogotá-Gregory et al 2020, 2022a; some of these species are endemic to this basin, while others are widely distributed in the Amazon basin and adjacent basins such as the Orinoco and those within the Guiana Shield (van der Sleen and Albert 2017; Beltrão et al 2019;Bogotá-Gregory et al 2020, 2022a, 2022bTaphorn et al 2022).…”

“…Recent studies evaluating the sampling efforts to inventory Amazon River basin ichthyofauna reveal that extensive areas in southwestern Colombia remain almost unsampled (Jézéquel et al 2020a). Recent reviews purported new records for the basin and Colombia suggesting that the biodiversity knowledge of the area is still incipient (Bogotá-Gregory et al 2020, 2022a.…”