Bedotia Regan

Paul V. Loiselle & Damaris Rodriguez, 2007, A new species of Bedotia (Teleostei: Atherinomorpha: Bedotiidae) from the Rianila drainage of Eastern Madagascar, with redescriptions of Bedotia madagascariensis and Bedotia geayi., Zootaxa 1520, pp. 1-18 : 2

[[ Genus Bedotia Regan ]]

The atherinoid family Bedotiidae, endemic to Madagascar, comprises the genera Bedotia Regan 1903 and Rheocles Jordan and Hubbs 1919 . Sixteen species of the genus Bedotia are presently recognized, of which only seven have been formally described. While descriptions published since the turn of the century (Stiassny and Harrison, 2000; Sparks, 2001; Sparks and Rush, 2005) are sufficiently detailed to permit unambiguous recognition of the species in question, this is not true of that of Bedotia madagascariensis Regan 1903 , type species of the genus, or those of B. geayi Pellegrin 1907 , B. longianalis Pellegrin 1914 and B. tricolor Pellegrin 1932 . The material available to their authors was sparse and in several instances, in poor condition. Diagnostically important data on life coloration were likewise sparse, and in several instances, entirely lacking. The incomplete character of these descriptions complicates efforts to relate previously published species to more recently collected material. Given the magnitude of the threats to the survival of Madagascar’s endemic fishes, this problem is of more than academic concern. Effective conservation planning for these fishes is impossible without either a clear understanding of the taxonomic status of the different populations of Bedotia or a precise picture of their geographic distribution.