Parodon caliensis Boulenger, 1895

Londoño-Burbano, Alejandro, Román-Valencia, César & Taphorn, Donald C., 2011, Taxonomic review of Colombian Parodon (Characiformes: Parodontidae), with descriptions of three new species, Neotropical Ichthyology 9 (4), pp. 709-730 : 719-721

Parodon caliensis Boulenger, 1895

Fig. 7

Parodon caliensis Boulenger, 1895: 480 (type locality: río Cali, río Cauca drainage, Colombia, 3°27’N 76°32’W, elevation 975 masl, Lectotype: BMNH 1895.11.16.83 designated by Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia, 2010: 817). Eigenmann, 1922: 108-109 (key; meristic and morphometric data; distribution; lateral view illustration is of Saccodon dariensis ). Miles, 1943: 42 (description; distribution; scale counts). Miles, 1947: 131-132 (key; distribution; lateral line scale counts, maximum size). Roberts, 1974b: 424-434; 469 (relationships with Hemiodontidae ; illustration of jaws). Géry, 1977: 203 (key; scale counts; type locality). Pavanelli, 2003: 46-47 (synonymy; distribution; location of syntypes; maximum size, common names). Maldonado et al., 2005: 38; 255; 301 (lateral view illustration is of Saccodon dariensis ; synonymy; common names; conservation status; description; ecology; distribution; museum records). Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia, 2010: 814-819 (redescription; assignation of type series).

Parodon caliense .- Dahl, 1971: 117 (key; distribution; maximum size; figure is S. dariensis ).

Parodon medellinense Posada, 1909: 299 (type locality: Medellin, Colombia. Holotype not assigned). Pavanelli, 2003: 46-47 (synonymy with P. caliensis ). Maldonado et al. 2005: 38; 255; 301 (synonymy with P. caliensis following Pavanelli, 2003).

Diagnosis. Parodon caliensis differs from all congeners in having 6-8 vertical bars, each 2-3 scales wide on the sides, without a continuous lateral stripe (vs. presence of lateral stripe, except in P. apolinari which has 14-17 vertical bars); and in having all fins, except the caudal, hyaline (vs. fins with chromatophores; see also Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia, 2010).

Description. Morphometric and meristic data given in Tables 3 and 4, respectively. Body stout. Dorsal head profile straight from anterior part of snout to posterior margin of supraoccipital. Ventral profile of head straight from snout to vertical through anterior margin of third infraorbital thence rounded to posterior margin of isthmus. Dorsal trunk profile convex from posterior margin of supraoccipital to dorsal-fin origin, then straight to adipose fin, from there concave to caudal fin. Isthmus located at vertical through anterior part of opercle. Branchial membranes united to each other but not to isthmus. Eyes lateral; nares at height of eye; without projecting flap of skin dividing orifice in two, round in shape. Mouth ventral, upper lip absent. Ventral profile of trunk rounded from isthmus to anal fin then straight to caudal fin. Caudal peduncle compressed.

Premaxillary hemiseries with four teeth that fit into space in lower jaw (one specimen, 103.2 mm SL, with five teeth on left side, FMNH 56305), straight inferior margin of teeth with 13-15 small cusps. Lower jaw with 1-3 unicuspid, lateral, outwardly curved teeth, not visible when mouth closed. Maxilla with 1-2 multicuspid teeth smaller than those of premaxilla and half covered by surrounding soft tissue.

Pectoral fin short, not reaching pelvic fin or vertical through dorsal-fin origin; inserted at vertical through one scale behind tip of supraoccipital process; truncate with fourth and fifth rays longer than rest. Pelvic fin fall short of genital pore by two or three scales and inserted at vertical through posterior margin of dorsal-fin base, or one scale anterior to it. Pelvic fin truncate with first and second branched rays longest. Anal fin truncate, not reaching caudal fin; origin at vertical through second or third scale anterior to adipose-fin origin, first and second branched rays longest. Dorsal fin truncate, first and second branched rays longest, origin at vertical through midpoint between pectoral and pelvic-fin insertions or slightly posterior, falling short of adipose fin by more than six scales. Adipose-fin origin at vertical through posterior portion of anal fin. Two caudal lobes equal sized, middle rays light brown to tips, basal third covered with scales.

Lateral line with 39-40 pored scales that sometimes extend out on to scaled portion of fin. Predorsal and ventral regions with regularly arranged scales. Axillary scale present, one or two scales normal in length (see also Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia, 2010).

Color in alcohol. Dorsal part of snout and head brown, lighter below horizontal through middle of eye. Dorsum of body with series of 8-10 light brown transverse bars, separated by pale yellow or whitish spaces, beginning at tip of supraoccipital process, ending at caudal fin. Head above eye lighter than dorsum of body. Head below eye whitish, with few melanophores. Body with same color pattern as head, darker above lateral line.

Sides of body with 6-8 brown vertical bars, 2-3 scales in width, touching dark part of dorsum above and extending down to within two scales above pelvic fin insertions, bars sometimes divided to form two vertically elongate spots.

All fins hyaline except caudal fin; its middle rays brown to their tips. Ventral portion of body lighter than rest, with few chromatophores (see also Londoño-Burbano & Román- Valencia, 2010).

Sexual dimorphism. Breeding tubercles present only in males greater than 100 mm SL, very small and few in number, more numerous tubercles found posterior and lateral to supraoccipital process (see also Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia, 2010).

Distribution. Occurs in the upper Cauca River drainage, Colombia ( Fig. 2 ).

Comments. In the original description Boulenger (1895) did not designate a type series, nor indicate in which museum the specimens used to describe P. caliensis were deposited. However, images (photographs and x-rays) of the syntypes (James Maclaine, e-mail February 4 th, 2008; Pavanelli, 2003) were obtained for examination (see material and methods). Those specimens are cited as syntypes by Pavanelli (2003) and Eschmeyer (2010), and according to them these specimens were assumed as the series for the type designation. This series was used to designate a lectotype by Londoño-Burbano & Román-Valencia (2010), and were assumed as the type series of the species in this study (see reference for designation).

According to Eigenmann (1922), Miles (1943; 1947), Dahl (1971), Mojica et al. (2002), and Maldonado et al. (2005), Parodon caliensis is found in the Magdalena River basin, and in illustrations presented by these authors, a fish with a color pattern typical of Saccodon dariensis (Meek & Hildebrand) is shown (round separate spots in three rows along sides of body). This has led to a great deal of confusion with respect to these two species and their taxonomic identity. As noted above, the distribution of P. caliensis is limited to the upper Cauca River, whereas S. dariensis is found in several tributaries of the Magdalena and Cauca Rivers, as well as in parts of Panama and the Rancheria River of the Caribbean coastal Guajira region of Colombia. Parodon caliensis differs from Saccodon dariensis in having: only one unbranched pectoral-fin ray (vs. two); teeth present on the sides of the lower jaw (vs. absent); color pattern of vertical brown bars and no horizontal stripe (vs. separated, transversally elongate black spots arranged in three rows along sides of body); and higher number of circumpeduncular scales (16 vs. 12). For this reason we believe that specimens identified as P. caliensis by previous authors from the Magdalena River drainage are actually S. dariensis (see also Londoño-Burbano & Román- Valencia, 2010 for further comments).

Posada (1909) described the species Parodon medellinense from Medellin, Colombia without citing a specific river. The author did not assign types or deposit material in any museum, making comparison with the Magdalena basin material examined here impossible, and since the type locality is the city of Medellin it is not possible to collect new material there. Pavanelli (2003) and Maldonado et al. (2005) reported P. medellinense as a synonym of P. caliensis . Our sampling indicates that P. caliensis is not present in the lower Cauca River near Medellin (type locality of P. medellinense ). Posada´s description did not contain any kind of illustration and his color description of the species matches the characteristics of a Saccodon species (see Discussion for further comments). Thus, due to the impossibility of studying material belonging to the type locality of P. medellinense and to unequivocally assign this species to either Parodon or Saccodon , we here maintain the synonymy of Parodon medellinense with P. caliensis proposed by Pavanelli, while noting that it could just as easily be interpreted as a synonym of Saccodon dariensis .

Material examined. Colombia. río Cauca basin: BMNH 1895.11 .16.83, lectotype of Parodon caliensis , 57.0 mm SL, and BMNH 1895.11.16.84-87, 4 paralectotypes, 48.0-59.0 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, río Cali, 3°27’N, 76°32’W, 975 masl. CAS 6779 , 5 , 48.2 -56.0 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cali, río Cauca, 1009 masl. CAS 6780 , 3 , 82.2-89.5 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cartago , río Vieja , six miles from río Cauca, 918 masl. AMNH 7110 , 2 , 60.5 -65.0 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cali , río Cauca, 3°27’N, 76°32’W, 975 masl. FMNH 69790 , 6 , 53.2 -62.0 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cali , río Cauca at Cali. FMNH 56305 , 4 , 83.1-103.2 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cartago , río La Vieja. MCZ 35893, 2 , 50.4-58.1 mm SL, Valle del Cauca, Cali , río Cauca and tributaries .

Figures

Fig. 7. Parodon caliensis, Lectotype, BMNH 1895.11.16.83, 57 mm SL, Colombia, Cali River, tributary of Cauca River (photo by James Maclaine, BMNH).

Fig. 2. Distribution of Parodon species in Colombia. Parodon apolinari (star); P. buckleyi (square); P. caliensis (diamond); P. pongoensis (pentagon); P. suborbitalis (circle); P. alfonsoi (arrow up); P. magdalenensis (triangle); P. atratoensis (X). Each symbol may represent more than one locality. Open symbols represents type locality of each species.