Pseudobatos horkelii (Müller & Henle, 1841)

Ceríaco, Luis M. P., Santos, Bruna S., Semedo, Thiago B. F., Garcia, Lucas Canes & Moreira, Cristiano Rangel, 2023, The fish collection of José Mariano da Conceição Veloso (1742 - 1811) and the beginning of ichthyological research in Brazil, with a taxonomic description of the extant specimens, Zootaxa 5391 (1), pp. 1-85 : 23-24

Pseudobatos horkelii (Müller & Henle, 1841)

Extant specimens: ACL-HN-0047 ( Fig. 9 ).

Classification on the specimen: “ Raja Puraqué Marg. sp. n. ”

Common names on the specimen (Portuguese/Tupi): None/”Puraqué”.

Comments: This species was undescribed at the time Veloso prepared it. The original labeling of the specimen bore the inscription “ Raja Puraqué Marg. sp. n. Raia Viola do Brasil.” However, it is important to note that this information appears in a distinct handwriting style on a rectangular piece of paper affixed to the herbarium sheet. This suggests a subsequent addition by an unidentified individual with the intention of describing the species. It is plausible that this person was not Veloso himself, as he probably intended to describe the species in his Ichthyologia Fluminensis under the name “ Raja Cythara ,” a species name not available. It is conceivable that Veloso’s “ Raja Cythara ” may have been a composite description encompassing Pseudobatos horkelii and P. percellens (see below).

It is important to emphasize that this species had not yet been formally described at the time of Veloso’s collection. In the Ajuda’s inventory ( Ferreira 1794), there are references to 15 herborized specimens of Raja , but none are mentioned in the list of specimens transferred to the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. However, in the list of specimens transferred to Coimbra, two specimens of Raja rhinobatos (= Rhinobatos rhinobatos ) are listed. Although these specimens have since been lost, it is reasonable to assume that they were likely Pseudobatos horkeli or P. percellens , considering that R. rhinobatos is found only in the eastern Atlantic. Antunes & Balbino (2003) identified this specimen as Rhinobatos percellens (Walbaum, 1792) . Pseudobatos horkelii occurs in the Western Atlantic from Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil) to North Argentina ( Last et al. 2016) . A population decline of more than 90% in the last four decades led this species to be classified as “Critically Endangered” in Brazil (CR; ICMBIO 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Pseudobatos horkelii (Müller & Henle, 1841), ACL-HN-0047, 590 mm TL. Photo by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.