FISHES OF THREE BOLIVIAN RIVERS:
DIVERSITY, DISTRIBUTION
AND CONSERVATION
BARRY CHERNOFF, ANTONIO MACHADO-ALLISON,
PHIL WILLINK, JAIME SARMIENTO, SORAYA BARRERA,
NAERCIO MENEZES and HERNAN ORTEGA
he forested lowlands of
most Amazonian tributaries remain poorly explored. Lists of freshwater fishes do not
exist for more than one or two of the
major arms of the Amazon, a feature that
was prominently absent from an otherwise remarkable work on the fishes and
fisheries of the Rio Madeira (Goulding,
1981). In Bolivia there have been attempts to bring together information for
Amazonian streams (e.g., Lauzanne et al.,
1991). More recently, a well documented
fauna from the Rio Gaupore/Itenez was
provided by Sarmiento (1998).
Lauzanne et al. (1991)
recorded 389 species of freshwater fishes
from the Bolivian Amazon to which Sarmiento (1998) added an additional 21
species bringing the total to 410 species.
This work reports upon the ichthyological results of the first AquaRAP carried
out in a relatively small area of the upper
Rio Orthon. Two teams of ichthyologists
surveyed aquatic habitats in the rivers
Tahuamanu and Manuripi and their tributaries over 17 days in 1996. Amazingly,
313 species of fishes were recorded. This
value includes a spectacular number of
new records for Bolivia and several species new to science, including a new piranha, genus Serrasalmus.
The purpose of this contribution is to: (i) make known the gen-
eral ichthyological results, including a
breakdown by sub-basin; (ii) compare the
diversity with those of other South American regions and discuss any distributional aspects of the data; (iii) discuss the
economic and conservation importance of
the results (iv) consider threats to the
species richness; and (v) to propose recommendations for conservation.
Methods
Two teams, three-four
persons each, made collections between 4
and 21 September, 1996. The teams were
usually isolated and worked in different
tracts of the Upper Rio Tahuamanu for
the first five days. Eighty-five collection
stations were established, each receiving a
unique, sequential field number. The field
stations were enumerated separately for
each group, identified as P1 and P2. At
each station, longitude and latitudes were
registered from hand held GPS units.
At each field station a
number of ecological variables corresponding to a description of the habitat
were recorded. These included the shore,
substrate, type of habitat (e.g., river, lake,
flooded area, etc.) as well as the water
type. The classification of water type
(black, white, turbid) was checked with
the results obtained by the limnology
group.
Fishes were collected using a variety of nets and netting techniques. Each group was equipped with
seines (5m x 2m x 1.25cm, 5m x 2m x
.63cm, 1.3m x .7m x .37cm), dip nets and
experimental gill nets (40m x 2m, monofilament, with five 8m panels, mesh size
from 1.25cm to 6.25cm). Team 2 pulled an
otter trawl (mouth 3m wide) with two 15kg
doors where the depth of the water was
>2m over sandy or muddy stretches in a
manner modified from that described by
Lopez-Rojas et al. (1984). Additionally,
one of the river pilots threw a 2m cast net
in some deeper lakes or cochas.
Fishes were preserved
in buffered 10% formalin solution. All
specimens captured at the same place and
time were maintained separately from all
other collected specimens. Larger specimens were tagged individually using fine
wire and punched cardboard tags and either placed in large liquidpacks containing formalin with other specimens or
were skeletonized, soaked in 40% isopropanol and dried. All material was wrapped and shipped to Chicago for sorting,
identification and enumeration in the Division of Fishes, Department of Zoology,
Field Museum of Natural History
(FMNH). Fifty percent of the specimens
are housed in the Museum of Natural
History, La Paz, Bolivia; the remaining
specimens were shared among the partici-
KEY WORDS / Fhises / Diversity / Distribution / Conservation / Bolivia /
Barry Chernoff and Phil Willink: Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 Lake Shore Dr. Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496, USA. email: chernoff@fmnh.org
Antonio Machado-Allison: Laboratorio de Ictiología, Instituto de Zoología Tropical, Universidad Central de Venezuela,
Caracas, Venezuela and Field Museum of Natural History. e-mail: amachado@strix.ciens.ucv.ve
Jaime Sarmiento and Soraya Barrera: Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, La Paz, Bolivia.
Naercio Menezes: Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
Hernan Ortega: Museo de Historia Natural (UNMSM), Lima, Perú.
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
0378-1844/00/06/273-11 $ 3.00/0
273
pating institutions: FMNH; Museu Zoologia do Universidade do São Paulo, Brazil; Museo de Historia Natural San Marcos, Perú and Museo de Biología de la
Universidad Central de Venezuela. The
identifications were made in a careful but
relatively rapid fashion. General works
such as Eigenmann and Myers (1929) or
Gery (1977) were used but preference
was always given to systematic revisions
(e.g., Vari, 1992; Mago-Leccia, 1994)
and recent species descriptions (Stewart,
1985) if available. In many cases specimens were compared to types or historic
material referenced in the literature and
housed at FMNH. However, some identification to the level of species or even
genus was not possible. To do so would
represent a less than scholarly approach
to the taxonomy. Instead we rely upon
morphospecies – the number of distinguishable entities present in our samples.
This bears the assumption that such
discernable entities or morphospecies are
putative taxonomic entities (i.e., species).
We were careful to check for sexual and
ontogenetic differences. All specimens
were examined critically and identified to
their lowest taxonomic level (Table I).
Another issue inheres
in the appropriate selection of taxa across
lists in order to judge new additional or
new records. We chose a conservative
approach and did not include all of the
taxa that we had collected. We eliminated from comparison about 5% of
those taxa whose identifications were ambiguous or unknown in our list and in
published lists. So for example, if Hemigrammus sp. or H. sp. 1 occurred in both
lists, it was not counted as a similarity or
a difference because there is no way to
ascertain that the taxonomic designations
represent the same biological entity.
However, Gephyrocharax sp. occurs in
our list but only G. chapare is reported
by either Lauzanne et al. (1991) or Sarmiento (1998). In this case we count the
G. sp. as a new record because we compared our material to G. chapare and it
is different. The possible error in this latter case is identical to the possible errors
in a list containing misidentified species
bearing specific epithets or not.
Collecting Stations
Eighty-five collections
were taken in the Tahuamanu and Manuripi river basins from the on the border
with Perú downstream to Puerto Rico
(Figures 1 and 2). The entire region was
divided into the following five subregions based on habitat diversity: Upper,
Middle and Lower Tahuamanu, Upper
and Lower Nareuda, and the Manuripi.
274
Figure 1. General Map of the Rio Orthon Basin, showing the Collecting Stations on the Manuripi
( ) and Lower Tahuamanu (+) rivers (11º8-10'S to 67º33'W)
The Rio Nareuda is a major tributary of
the Rio Tahuamanu.
The gear effort used to
make the 85 field stations, were as follows: seine = 73; trawl = 6; gill net = 5;
cast net = 2. This adds up to 86 because
one station P2-04 included both gill net
and seine collections. The gill nets were
usually set for several days. Because no
striking differences were noted for day
and night samples within the gill nets,
they were recorded as single stations.
Due to low water conditions during the time of the field sampling, motors had only limited use in the
Upper Tahuamanu and could not be used
in the Rio Nareuda except for in the vicinity of its confluence with the Rio
Tahuamanu. During the first portion of the
expedition team 1 worked in the Upper
Tahuamanu and also in the lower end of
the Rio Muymanu whereas team 2 collected in the Upper Nareuda as well as in
a number of small streams (garapés) that
drained independently into the Tahuamanu. The Upper Tahuamanu and the Upper Nareuda systems as well as their
tributaries were surrounded by terra firme.
For the middle portion
of the expedition, both teams were
camped together but team 1 focused
upon the Lower Nareuda down to its
mouth in the Rio Tahuamanu. Team 2
collected upstream and downstream from
this confluence to just below the village
of Filadelfia; this region is referred to as
Middle Tahuamanu. Conditions in the
Middle Tahuamanu were such that trawling was accomplished successfully.
For the last period both
teams camped on the Rio Manuripi upstream from Puerto Rico. Though both
groups worked independently, they covered
the same territory in the Rio Manuripi as
well as in the Lower Tahuamanu, just
above its mouth in the Rio Manuripi. River
conditions permitted trawling.
Results and Discussion
Diversity and distribution: General
The species richness of
fishes was spectacular. A total of 313
species were captured and identified. Because an additional 5% that could not be
identified unambiguously were discarded
from further evaluation, the actual number of species in the entire region is even
greater. The fishes (Table I) included
members of all trophic or activity groups,
ornamentals (e.g., Abramites hypselonotus), food fishes (e.g., Pseudoplatystoma
fasciatum), as well as miniatures (Scoloplax cf. dicra, <20 mm SL) and large
fishes (e.g., Prochilodus cf. nigricans,
Doras cf. carinatus, >200 mm SL).
Together Lauzanne et
al. (1991) and Sarmiento (1998) record
410 species from all rivers within the
Bolivian Amazon. The 313 species of
fishes, therefore, represents a fauna
greater than 76% of the number of species previously reported from all other
Amazonian tributaries within Bolivia.
The number of fishes discovered in a
relatively small section of the Tahuamanu
and Manuripi rivers is more than three
times that reported for the entire BeniMadre de Dios basin (n=101, Lauzanne
et al., 1991), more than 1.3 times that reported for the Río Guaporé/Itenez
(n=246, Sarmiento et al., 1998) and almost equal to (96%) that found over the
entire Río Mamoré basin (n=327, Lauzanne et al., 1991). Furthermore, Santos
et al. (1984) reported 300 species from
the lower Río Tocantins of Brazil;
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
Figure 2. General Map of the Tahuamanu River Basin, showing the Collecting Stations on the
Upper Nereuda ( ), Lower Nereuda ( ), Upper Tahuamanu ( ) and Middle Tahuamanu ( ) (11º1825'S to 68º45'-69º02'W)
Stewart et al. (1987) reported 473 species
in the Napo River Basin of Ecuador;
Goulding et al. (1988) reported 450+
species from the Río Negro Basin of Brazil and Machado-Allison et al. (2000)
listed 136 species from the Río Cuyuní
basin in Venezuela. In each of these latter cases, the areas surveyed exceed
vastly that of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi
region sampled in the rapid assessment.
It is important to consider that the number of species reported
for both the Guapore/Itenez and Mamoré
drainages included headwater habitats
that usually contain fishes with restricted
distributions. Even in the Upper Tahuamanu and Upper Nareuda, there were few
habitats, perhaps the two garapés, that
could correspond to headwater-like conditions.
Because of the paucity
of knowledge concerning the distributions
of the freshwater fishes of South America, it is difficult to state with any certainty the degree of endemism represented in samples from the upper Río
Orthon. However, we have apparently
uncovered not only a region with exceptional species richness but a region with
an exceptional number of new records for
Bolivia (Table I). Using the conservative
approach discussed above, we document
91 species not previously recorded from
Bolivia. Of the 91, 45 species include
taxa with some questions associated with
their exact name as well as include a
number of new species (e.g., the new
characid, Hysteronotus sp. 1). The newly
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
documented fauna increases the total
number of species inhabiting the Bolivian
Amazon by ca. 22% to 501 and increases
the total for all of Bolivia (using the previous total in Sarmiento, 1998) 16% to
641 species.
The significance of the
Tahuamanu and Manuripi rivers for the
Bolivian ichthyofauna is now clear. This
limited region contains 62.5% of all fish
species known from the Bolivian Amazon and 48.8% of all fishes known from
Bolivia. Furthermore, the 91 species
found in the Tahuamanu and Manuripi
rivers that are not yet known elsewhere
in Bolivia represent within-country “endemism” values of 18% and 14% relative
to the ichthyofaunas for the Bolivian
Amazon and Bolivia, respectively.
Based upon the relatively sparse information published for
the ichthyofauna of Bolivia, of regions
with more than 50 species, only Lake
Titicaca has a higher within-country “endemism” percentage. No other region
within Bolivia is currently known to contain as high a percent of the Amazonian
or total country fauna. The impressive
values reported for the Río Guapore/
Itenez basin within the Parque Nacional
Noel Kempff reported upon by Sarmiento
(1998) must now be adjusted downwards
due to the new species totals. The adjusted values are well below those of the
Tahuamanu and Manuripi rivers.
Potentially, the impressive nature of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi
ichthyofauna could be tempered if, in
fact, it was representative of a more
widespread fauna within Bolivia. The
most obvious possibility is that we used
trawls to sample the bottom communities
for the first time within Bolivian freshwaters. If the 91 novel records were
largely due to trawl samples then the lists
would not really be comparable. That is,
we might expect to find similar bottom
communities in other regions; the uniqueness of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi region
would diminish even though its overall
diversity would remain exceptional. However, this scenario did not obtain. The
trawls captured 53 species (17% of the
total) but only 15 species were captured
in trawls exclusively. Of these, 10 were
new records for Bolivia (Table I). Thus,
81 of the 91 species newly reported for
Bolivia were captured by traditional
means used commonly in ichthyological
sampling.
We have no doubt that
more careful sampling as exemplified in
the Guapore/Itenez by Sarmiento (1998)
and in the Tahuamanu-Manuripi by the
AquaRAP team will lead to increasing
the number of taxa found within Bolivia
and will increase knowledge of the distribution patterns of the fishes. Nonetheless,
it seems unlikely that the unique character of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi fauna
will loose its uniqueness.
In fact with continued
sampling, the ichthyofauna of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi region will continue to
rise and the number of species new to
Bolivia will be expected to increase. We
base this assumption upon the species accumulation curves (Figure 3). The rate of
accumulation of species new to the expedition had not diminished; the graph
(Figure 3) displays no asymptote. During
the last six days, even with both groups
working the same region of the Manuripi,
we increased the known fauna by 63 species. Species were being added at a rate
of 10.5 species per day.
The total capture and
accumulation rates were remarkably similar for each of the two collecting teams
(Figure 3). Each group captured more
than 200 species that were often complementary. By the end of the sampling period, the species collected by the groups
differed as much as 50% which maintained the steep slope of the total accumulation curve. These data are evident in
the differences of species captured by the
two teams when they were both sampling
in the Río Manuripi. The teams captured
a total of 220 species in the Río Manuripi. Individually they netted 179 and
169 species based upon 17 and 18 collections, respectively. However, only 128
species were common to both sets of col-
275
lections, from which Simpson´s Index of
Similarity is 75.7%. Thus, the additional
effort increased the collected fauna by 62
species, or by 28.2%
Analyses of these data
argue strongly that continued collecting
will increase the size of the fauna known
from the Tahuamanu-Manuripi region.
Because the species that represent new
records for Bolivia comprise more than
29% of all species captured, we expect
that continued collecting will continue to
uncover new records for the country as
well. These data continue to exemplify
that the Upper Orthon Basin is extremely
diverse and may prove more diverse than
even the Rio Mamore basin, which has
received vastly more collecting effort.
The biogeographic relationships of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi region are difficult to ascertain, again because of how little that we know in general. There does seem to be a mix of taxa
representing three distinct distributional elements. The first comprises widespread
amazonian lowland species from the north
and the east of the Madeira basin: e.g.,
Serrasalmus rhombeus, Schizodon fasciatum, Anodus elongatus, Microschemobrycon geisleri, Cetopsorhamdia fantasia,
Pimelodus cf. altipinnis, Tatia altae, Electrophorus electricus, and Rhabdolichops
caviceps. The second incorporates species
found almost exclusively in black waters
of the Guapore/Itenez system that derive
from the Brazilian Shield: e.g., Hypopygus
lepturus, Carnegiella strigata, Aphyocharax alburnus, Hemigrammus cf. unilineatus, Pyrrhulina australe, Nannostomus
trifasciatus, Potamorrhina latior, Tatia
aulopygia, Corydoras hastatus, Cichla
monoculus, and Aequidens cf. tetramerus.
The third describes those species in the
small garapés that are most head-water
like habitats: e.g., Hysteronotus sp., Brachychalcinus copei, Bryconamericus cf.
caucana, Creagrutus sp., Cyphocharax
spiluropsis, Piabucus melanostomus, Tyttocharax tambopatensis, Corydoras trilineatus, Imparfinis stictonotus, and Otocinclus mariae.
The discussions above
show the nature of the uniqueness of the
ichthyofauna of the Tahuamanu-Manuripi
river basins. A relatively small region
contains 62.5% of all the freshwater species known from the Bolivian Amazon.
The fauna comprises 91 species that have
never been recorded from Bolivia – a
feature which does not seem to be an artifact of sampling or collecting methods.
The region seems to contain an assemblage of fishes that may uniquely combine widespread Amazonian species, with
blackwater Brazilian shield species in addition to head water species. Because we
276
Figure 3. Species accumulation curves for fishes collected in the rios Tahuamanu,
Nareuda, and Manuripi, Pando, Bolivia, 4-21 September, 1996.
Symbols: Group 1 (squares), Group 2 (triangles), and combined (X).
never reached the asymptote of the species accumulation curve, the number of
species represented in this region is predictably larger than we can document at
present. Furthermore, because the number
of new records comprises 29% of the
fauna of this region, it is reasonable to
expect new records as well.
All of this leads to the
conclusion that within Bolivia, the upper
Rio Orthon basin must be considered as
a potential hot spot for the species richness of freshwater fishes. Conservation
efforts are needed to preserve the unique
character of this fish fauna. At a secondary level, more field studies are needed
to finish documenting the ichthyofauna
of this amazing region.
Economic importance
Many of the fishes
found in the Upper Rio Orthon basin are
valuable as commercial resources for
food and for the ornamental fish industry.
We present a short discussion in order to
stimulate immediate research both into
the potential of these resources to provide an economic alternative to other activities that damage the environmental
character of the region.
During the AquaRAP
we employed local fishermen who were
subsistence fishermen throughout the year
and who fished commercially during the
seasonal migrations. We also witnessed
truck-side fish sales in Cobija and in
Filadelfia and saw the following species
for sale: Pygocentrus nattereri, Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, Prochilodus nigricans, Curimata spp., Hydrolycus pectoralis, Plagioscion squamosissimus, Mylossoma duriventre, and Myleus sp. We
were told by the fishermen that the fishes
of highest commercial value were the tiger catfish, Pseudoplatystoma, and the
serrasalmines including both the piranhas
and the pacus. In our samples, we caught
many other species that are either consumed for subsistence or caught for sales
according to our guides. That list included the following: Anodus elongatus,
Cichla cf. monoculus, Cochliodon cf. cochliodon, Crenicichla spp., Duopalatinus
sp., Hemisorubim platyrynchos, Hoplias
malabaricus, Hoplosternum thoracatum,
Hypostomus spp., Leiarius marmoratus,
Leporinus spp., Myleus sp., Pimelodus
spp., Pristobrycon sp., Rhamdia sp.,
Schizodon fasciatum, Sorubim lima, and
Triportheus angulatus. In that list the
“spp.” refers to a number of species
within the genus that are eaten. Interestingly, the following armored catfishes are
consumed in the Río Madeira basin of
Brazil (Goulding, 1981) but were rejected
as a source of food by our fishermen:
Doras cf. carinatus, Pseudodoras niger,
and Liposarcus disjunctivus.
Our discussions with local fishermen including others in Puerto
Rico indicated that the commercial food
fisheries are burgeoning in the Tahuamanu and Manuripi rivers. It was not
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
possible to obtain from our fishermen or
from the truck-side sellers the annual totals for weight or value of the catch.
However, the notion of increasing annual
landings would not seem to make sense
relative to the local populations that we
encountered and interviewed for two reasons: i) the population of Pando while
increasing is doing so slowly; and ii) the
Bolivian residents have largely settled the
region from cattle rearing areas or from
La Paz and do not have strong traditions
of fish consumption. Most of their demand is for premium species, tiger catfishes and pacus, species that are delicate
in flavor. Apparently, much of the catch
is exported across the border to Brazil
and this exportation appears to be unregulated. Sarmiento (1998) also noted a
similar pattern of unregulated exportation
of several tons per month with a slightly
increasing demand from populations living along the Río Itenez.
Peres and Terbourgh
(1995), Goulding (1980, 1981) and Goulding et al. (1988) document not only the
importance of rivers in structuring human
settlements throughout Amazonia but also
the increasing dependence of humans on
aquatic resources for sustenance. At this
time we cannot document the size of species specific harvests that are sustainable
for the future. There is no accurate data
on the nature of fish migration into the
Tauhuamanu-Manuripi region. Many of
the commercially important species such
as the curimatids and prochilodontids
move out of tributaries and forest habitats into the main rivers to spawn at the
beginning of the flooding cycle (Goulding, 1981). While many of the larger catfishes migrate upstream to spawn and apparently ascend the cataracts in the upper
Madeira into Bolivian waters (Goulding,
1981). The only relevant data that we
collected was that the abundance of the
most favored species was relatively low
(see Machado-Allison et al. 1999, on the
abundance and distribution). Even though
it was the dry season and at relatively
low water, there were still many suitable
habitats for these species. The gill net
samples did not yield the quantity of individuals for the commercially important
species that would indicate bountiful
populations, even though our fishermen
guided us to their favorite areas (with
monetary exchange for the catch). In our
experience from similar habitats in other
regions of the Amazon and Orinoco river
basins where fish populations are apparently healthy, the commercially important
species are reasonably well represented in
gill net samples even in the dry seasons.
We only suggest caution. And we recommend that the stocks must be surveyed
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
immediately both within the Upper Río
Orthon as well as downstream toward the
Río Madeira. Statements such as that by
Walters et al. (1982) advocating across
the board increase in fisheries are premature in advance of the data on native
stocks.
Economic potential also
exists for the establishment of a harvestbased ornamental fishery. The extreme
number of species, the number of cochas
and inundated flooded habitats makes the
Tahuamanu-Manuripi regions especially
attractive. These habitats are easily collected while serving as natural critical
rearing habitats for ornamental fishes. The
ornamental fishes ranged from the common (e.g., Moenhausia sanctofilamenae,
Hemigrammus ocellifer) to ornamentals
that are more highly prized, including the
folowing: Astronotus crassipinnis, Apistogramma spp., Aequidens spp., Satanoperca cf. acuticeps, Eigenmannia spp., Apteronotus albifrons, Gymnotus carapo, Hypopygus lepturus, Heptapterus longior, Imparfinis stictonotus, Microglanis sp.,
Brachyramdia martae, Chirocerus eques,
Scoloplax cf. dicra, Peckoltia arenaria,
Parotocinclus sp., Otocinclus mariae, Hypostomus spp., Ancistrus spp., Agamyxis
pectinifrons, Acanthodoras cataphractus,
Brochis splendens, Corydoras spp., Bunocephalus spp., Dysichthys spp., Nannostomus trifasciatus, Pyrrhulina spp., Carnegiella spp., Tyttocharax spp., Poptella
compressa, Phenacogaster spp., Prionobrama filagera, Metynnis luna, Paragoniates alburnus, Iguanodectes spilurus,
Hemigrammus spp., Hyphessobrycon spp.
Hysteronotus spp., Aphyocharax spp., and
Leporinus spp. The most important areas
within the region surveyed for the ornamental fishes are the Upper Río Nareuda
and the Río Manuripi (Machado-Allison et
al., 1999). In some cases, trapped interior
flooded forest lakes can be harvested entirely because these ephemeral environments either dry out completely or become anoxic. However, in the more permanent habitats the reproductive and
population biologies of the ornamental
fishes must be studied in order to support
a sustainable enterprise.
Critical habitats
We identified a number
of critical habitats that are required for
continued survival of freshwater fishes
and maintenance of the spectacular biodiversity. These are the same habitats that
support the growth and reproduction of
economically valuable species.
The habitats are described in detail in Machado-Allison et
al., (1999). However, they fall into three
main classes: i) flooded areas; ii) small
tributaries; and iii) main channels. The
flooded areas comprise the most critical
and highly endangered areas, including
the varzea (flooded forest), cochas,
swamps, forest lakes, etc. These areas
provide nursery grounds for perhaps 66%
of the species that we captured (Goulding, 1980, 1981, Amazon; Lowe-McConnell, 1987 Amazon-Guianas; MachadoAllison, 1990, 1993 Orinoco). Furthermore, many species, including the pacus,
feed on the fruits and nuts, including the
Brazil nuts, dropped by the plants into
the water (see Goulding, 1980, 1981,
Machado-Allison, 1990, 1993). Goulding
(1981) characterizes the Brazilian portion
of the Rio Madeira as having a relatively
narrow flood plane and margin. This is
certainly true for the rivers Tahuamanu,
Muymanu, Nareuda and Manuripi in the
areas that we surveyed. Given such a
narrow flood plain there is little buffer
between logging and ranching activities
and these critical flood zones. Extended
development from Puerto Rico, Filadelfia
and Aceradero threaten this flood plain
zone.
In the Upper Tahuamanu and Upper Nareuda there were
many smaller streams (garapés) and
tributaries with both black and white water conditions. These smaller habitats are
highly threatened by deforestation and
cattle ranching. A number of the garapés
crossing the main road and on cattle
ranches are completely denuded of riparian vegetation. Furthermore, one team
walked through dense forests into a number of forest streams and neither captured
nor saw any fishes, crustaceans or
aquatic insects in crystal clear water with
sand bottoms. These streams were downstream from a ranch that was recently
cleared and burned. We could only
speculate that ashes which are toxic to
aquatic organisms or pesticides poisoned
these streams.
These upper areas are
highly diverse. We captured 168 species
in the Upper Tahuamanu and the Upper
Nareuda; slightly more than half of all
the species we discovered. Seventy-one
species were found to inhabit both the
Upper Tahuamanu and Upper Nareuda
but 30 species were found only in these
upper regions. These upper regions contain habitats that are similar to headwater
areas with a unique and diverse fauna.
These are among the most threatened
habitats due to logging, deforestation and
ranching.
The main river channels
are not habitats that are usually focused
upon. However, as pointed out above, the
principal channels also contain a diverse
277
fauna with a number of unique or rare elements (e.g., Cetopsorhamdia fantasia).
The Río Tahuamanu above Filadelfia
contains a number of rocky outcrops, including some small rapids (cachoeras)
and shallow regions with many downed
logs. In the dry season the area near
Aceradero was almost un-navigable because of the tree trunks and rapids. Such
regions are prime candidates for spawning areas of the commercially important,
large, pimelodid catfishes (e.g., Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, Leiarius marmoratus, Barthem and Goulding, 1997). As
development continues towards the Peruvian border pressure may be exerted on
the river channelization to permit shipment of supplies or equipment up river.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The region of the Río
Tahuamanu-Río Manuripi, upper Río Orthon basin, Pando, Bolivia is a potential
hotspot for the diversity of freshwater
fishes. A total of 313 species were discovered in the region of which 91 species represented new records for Bolivia.
This region contains 62.5% of the fishes
found in the Bolivian Amazon and
48.8% of the species found in the entire
country. Based upon our analyses of the
number of new records and the species
accumulation curve (Figure 3), we predict
that the number of fish species within
this region will increase with continued
sampling.
The region is further
distinguished because the ichthyofauna
comprises a unique assemblage of species. There are three distinct biogeographical elements as follows: i) widespread lowland Amazonian elements from
the north and east; ii) Brazilian Shield elements from the Río Guapore/Itenez; and
iii) headwater elements.
Because this region is a
potential hotspot for freshwater fishes we
are concerned that a plan be implemented
to conserve this unique and valuable resource. The region should be managed in
a sustainable way that will protect the
biodiversity. We recommend that zones
of critical habitats with varzea, cochas,
main channels and upland areas should
be created that will protect the biodiversity. Rather than the formation of a park,
authorities may want to consider multiple
use zones with some habitats restricted
for modification. Because the region has
a narrow floodplain, special care should
be taken to minimize the impact on this
important habitat. We recommend that
development of a management plan include educational programs concerning
the ecological relationships between the
278
flora and fauna and the habitats that support their survival and life histories.
Protection of aquatic resources is critical not only from the
standpoint of conserving biodiversity but
also for protecting a critical resource for
the people who live in the region. Many
of the fishes are currently used for subsistence or commercial fishery and have
a high value. The ornamental fishes also
have a very high value.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The expedition that produced the data reported upon was part of
the Aquatic Rapid Assessment Program
(AquaRAP) of Conservation International
and the Field Museum. We would like to
express our gratitude, for their help in
the organization, planning, and execution
of the fieldwork, to Kim Awbrey, Adrian
Forsythe, Lois “Lucho” James, Debra
Moskovits, Guillermo Rioja, and Tatyana
Wachter. Leeanne Alonso and two
anonymous reviewers provided excellent
suggestions for improving the manuscript.
We are grateful to Mary Anne Rogers
and Kevin Swagel for their help with
processing and distributing the collections
of fishes. Funding for fieldwork was generously provided by the W. Alton Jones
Foundation and the Marshall Field Funds,
Department of Zoology, Field Museum.
For their support of AquaRAP we thank
the 3-M Corporation, J. Fahn, L. Lee, D.
and J. Shores, and Environmental and
Conservation Programs and the Department of Zoology, the Field Museum. Partial support of research at the Field Museum was also provided by a Bass Fellowship to AMA.
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Goulding M (1980) The Fishes and the Forests:
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280 pp.
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132 pp.
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Lowe-McConnell RH (1987) Ecological Studies
in Tropical Fish Communities. Cambridge
University Press.
Machado-Allison A (1990) Ecología de los
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Llanos de Venezuela: Un Ensayo sobre su
Historia Natural. CDCH-UCV, Caracas.
143 pp.
Machado-Allison A, Chernoff B, Willink P, Sarmiento J, Barrera S, Menezes N, Berth T
(1999) Diversity and Abundance of Fishes
and Habitats in the Río Tahuamanu and Río
Manuripi Basins (Bolivia). Acta Biol.
Venez. 19(1): 17-50.
Machado-Allison A, Chernoff B, Royero-León
R, Mago-Leccia F, Velásquez J, Lasso C,
López-Rojas H, Bonilla-Rivero A, Provenzano F, Silvera C. (2000) Ictiofauna de la
Cuenca del Río Cuyuní en Venezuela. Interciencia 25(1): 13-21.
Mago-Leccia F (1994) Electric Fishes of the
Continental Waters of America. Biblioteca
de la Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales, Volumen XXIX, Caracas, Venezuela. 206 pp + Tables.
Peres CA, Terborgh JW (1995) Amazonian nature reserves: an analysis of the defensibility status of existing conservation units and
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Biology 9: 34-45.
Santos GM, Jegu M, Merona B (1984) Catalogo
de peixes comerciales do baixo Tocantins.
Electronorte/CNPq/INPA, Manaus. 83pp.
Sarmiento J (1998) Ichthyology of Parque
Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. Pp. 168180, Appendix 5. In: Killeen TJ, Schulenberg TS (eds.) A biological assessment of
Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado.
RAP Working Papers 10, Conservation International, Washington, D.C.
Stewart DJ (1985) A new species of Cetopsorhamdia (Pisces: Pimelodidae) from the
Río Napo Basin of Eastern Ecuador. Copeia
1985: 339-344.
Stewart DJ, Barriga R, Ibarra M. Ictiofauna de
la cuenca del Río Napo, Ecuador Oriental:
lista anotada de especies. Revista del
Politécnico 12: 9-63.
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characiform genus Curimatella Eigenmann
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SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
TABLE I
FISHES FROM THE BOLIVIAN AMAZONIAN REGION
(Explanation of localities and sources of information at end of table)
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Rajiformes
Potamotrygonidae
Potamotrygon cf. hystrix
Potamotrygon motoro
Potamotrygon cf. motoro
Potamotrygon sp.
Potamotrygonidae sp.
Lepidosireniformes
Lepidosirenidae
Lepidosiren paradoxa
Clupeiformes
Clupeidae
Pellona castelnaeana
Pellona flavipinnis
Engraulidae
Anchoviella cf. carrikeri **
Engraulidae sp. 1
Engraulidae sp. 2
Characiformes
Anostomidae
Abramites hypselonotus
Anostomus cf. gracilis
Anostomus cf. plicatus
Anostomus proximus
Anostomus taeniatus
Laemolyta sp. **
Leporinus cf. cylindriformis
Leporinus fasciatus
Leporinus cf. fasciatus
Leporinus friderici
Leporinus cf. friderici
Leporinus cf. nattereri **
Leporinus pearsoni
Leporinus striatus
Leporinus trifasciatus
Leporinus sp. nov. (amazonensis)
Rhytiodus argenteofuscus
Rhytiodus lauzannei
Rhytiodus microlepis
Schizodon fasciatum
Characidae
Acestrorhynchus altus
Acestrorhynchus falcatus
Acestrorhynchus falcirostris
Acestrorhynchus guianensis
Acestrorhynchus heterolepis
Acestrorhynchus microlepis
Acestrorhynchus cf. minimus
Acestrorhynchus sp.
Aphiodite cf. grammica
Aphyocharax alburnus
Aphyocharax dentatus
Aphyocharax paraguayensis
Aphyocharax pusillus **
Aphyocharax rathbuni
Aphyocheirodon sp. nov.
Astyanacinus cf. moori
Astyanacinus multidens
Astyanax abramis
Astyanax cf. abramis
Astyanax bimaculatus
Astyanax cf. daguae
Astyanax fasciatus
Astyanax lineatus
Astyanax cf. mucronatus
Astyanax sp.
Astyanax sp. 1
Astyanax sp. 2
Brachychalcinus copei
Brycon cephalus
Brycon erythropterus
Bryconacidnus ellisi
Bryconamericus bolivianus
Bryconamericus cf. caucanus **
Bryconamericus cf. pachacuti **
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
-
-
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Bryconamericus cf. peruanus
Bryconamericus cf. peruanus
Bryconamericus sp.
Bryconops cf. alburnoides
Bryconops cf. caudomaculatus
Bryconops melanurus
Bryconops sp.
Catoprion mento
Chalceus erythrurus
Chalceus macrolepidotus
Characidium bolivianum
Characidium cf. fasciatum
Characidium sp. 1
Characidium sp. 2
Charax gibbosus
Cheirodon fugitiva **
Cheirodon piaba
Cheirodon sp. 1
Cheirodon sp. 2
Cheirodon spp.
Cheirodon sp.
Cheirodon stenodon
Cheirodontinae sp.
Cheirodontinae sp.
Cheirodontinae sp. 1
Cheirodontinae sp. 2
Cheirodontinae sp. (gr. Aphyodite)
Clupeacharax anchoveoides
Colossoma macropomum
Creagrutus beni
Creagrutus sp. 1
Creagrutus sp. 2
Creagrutus sp. 3
Ctenobrycon spilurus
Cynopotamus amazonus
Cynopotamus gouldingi **
Engraulisoma taeniatum **
Eucynopotamus biserialis **
Eucynopotamus sp. 1
Eucynopotamus sp. 2
Galeocharax gulo
Gephyrocharax chapare
Gephyrocharax sp.
Gnathocharax steindachneri
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
Gymnocorymbus thayeri
Hemibrycon sp.
Hemigrammus cf. bellottii
Hemigrammus lunatus
Hemigrammus cf. marginatus
Hemigrammus cf. megaceps **
Hemigrammus ocellifer
Hemigrammus cf. pretoensis **
Hemigrammus sp.
Hemigrammus? sp.
Hemigrammus cf. tridens
Hemigrammus unilineatus
Hemigrammus cf. unilineatus
Holobrycon pesu
Hyphessobrycon agulha **
Hyphessobrycon cf. anisitsi **
Hyphessobrycon bentosi
Hyphessobrycon cf. bentosi
Hyphessobrycon callistus
Hyphessobrycon cf. gracilior **
Hyphessobrycon cf. herbertaxelrodi
Hyphessobrycon cf. heterorhabdus
Hyphessobrycon cf. minimus
Hyphessobrycon cf. scholzei
Hyphessobrycon serpae
Hyphessobrycon? sp.
Hyphessobrycon cf. tucunai
Hysteronotus sp. 1 **
Hysteronotus sp. 2 **
Iguanodectes spilurus
Jobertina lateralis
Knodus breviceps
Knodus cf. caquetae **
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
279
TABLE I (continued)
FISHES FROM THE BOLIVIAN AMAZONIAN REGION
(Explanation of localities and sources of information at end of table)
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Knodus cf. gamma **
Knodus cf. heterestes **
Knodus cf. moenkhausii
Knodus sp.
Knodus sp.
Knodus sp. 1
Knodus sp. 2
Knodus cf. victoriae **
Markiana nigripinnis
Megalamphodus megalopterus
Megalamphodus sp.
Megalamphodus sp.
Metynnis argenteus
Metynnis hypsauchen
Metynnis cf. hypsauchen
Metynnis cf. lippincotianus
Metynnis luna **
Metynnis cf. maculatus 1
Metynnis cf. maculatus 2
Microschemobrycon geisleri **
Microschemobrycon hasemani
Moenkhausia cf. chrysargyrea **
Moenkhausia colletti
Moenkhausia cf. colletti
Moenkhausia cf. comma **
Moenkhausia cf. cotinho
Moenkhausia dichroura
Moenkhausia grandisquamis
Moenkhausia jamesi
Moenkhausia cf. jamesi
Moenkhausia cf. lepidura
Moenkhausia cf. lepidura
Moenkhausia cf. megalops **
Moenkhausia oligolepis
Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae
Moenkhausia sp. 1
Moenkhausia sp. 2
Moenkhausia sp. 3
Moenkhausia sp. 4
Moenkhausia sp. 5
Moenkhausia sp. 6
Moenkhausia sp. 7
Moenkhausia sp. 8
Moenkhausia sp.
Myleus sp.
Myleus cf. rubripinnis
Myleus tiete
Mylossoma aureum
Mylossoma duriventris
Odontostilbe cf. fugitiva
Odontostilbe hasemani
Odontostilbe piaba **
Odontostilbe paraguayensis **
Odontostilbe sp. 1
Odontostilbe sp. 2
Odontostilbe sp.
Parecbasis cyclolepis
Paragoniates alburnus
Phenacogaster cf. microstictus **
Phenacogaster cf. pectinatus **
Phenacogaster sp. 1
Phenacogaster sp. 2
Phenacogaster sp. 3
Phenacogaster? sp.
Phenacogaster sp.
Phenacogaster sp.
Piabucus melanostomus
Piaractus brachypomus
Poptella compressa **
Poptella orbicularis
Prionobrama filigera
Pristobrycon sp. **
Prodontocharax melanotus
Pseudocheirodon sp.
Pygocentrus nattereri
Roeboides affinis
Roeboides cf. descalvadensis
Roeboides myersii
280
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Roeboides cf. myersii
Roeboides sp. 1
Roeboides sp. 2
Roeboides sp. 3
Roeboides sp.
Roestes molossus
Salminus affinis
Salminus brasiliensis
Serrasalminae sp.
Serrasalmus compressus
Serrasalmus eigenmanni
Serrasalmus elongatus
Serrasalmus hollandi
Serrasalmus cf. hollandi
Serrasalmus marginatus **
Serrasalmus rhombeus
Serrasalmus sp.
Serrasalmus sp.
Serrasalmus spilopleura
Stethaprion crenatum
Tetragonopterinae sp. 1
Tetragonopterinae sp. 2
Tetragonopterus argenteus
Tetragonopterus cf. chalceus
Thayeria boehlkei
Triportheus albus
Triportheus angulatus
Triportheus culter
Triportheus sp.
Tyttocharax madeirae
Tyttocharax sp. nov.
Tyttocharax tambopatensis **
Vesicatrus sp. nov.
Xenurobrycon polyancistrus
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
Curimatidae
Chilodus punctatus
Curimata roseni
Curimata vittata
Curimatella alburna
Curimatella dorsalis
Curimatella immaculata
Curimatella meyeri
Curimatopsis macrolepis
Cyphocharax notatus
Cyphocharax plumbeus
Cyphocharax cf. plumbeus
Cyphocharax sp.
Cyphocharax sp. nov.
Cyphocharax spilura
Cyphocharax cf. spilura
Cyphocharax spiluropsis
Cyphocharax cf. spiluropsis
Eigenmannina melanopogon
Potamorhina altamazonica
Potamorhina laitior
Psectrogaster curviventris
Psectrogaster essequibensis
Psectrogaster rutiloides
Steindachnerina bimaculata
Steindachnerina binotata
Steindachnerina dobula
Steindachnerina hypostoma
Steindachnerina guentheri **
Steindachnerina leucisca **
Steindachnerina sp.
Steindachnerina sp.
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
Cynodontidae
Cynodon gibbus
Hydrolycus cf. armatus
Hydrolycus pectoralis **
Hydrolycus scomberoides
Rhaphiodon vulpinus
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
Erythrinidae
Erythrinus erythrinus
Erythrinus sp.
-
P
P
-
-
-
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
TABLE I (continued)
FISHES FROM THE BOLIVIAN AMAZONIAN REGION
(Explanation of localities and sources of information at end of table)
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Hoplias malabaricus
Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
-
Gasteropelecidae
Carnegiella marthae
Carnegiella myersi
Carnegiella schereri
Carnegiella strigata
Gasteropelacus sternicla
Thoracocharax securis
Thoracocharax stellatus
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
-
Hemiodontidae
Anodus elongatus **
Hemiodopsis cf. microlepis
Hemiodopsis semitaeniatus
Hemiodopsis unimaculatus
Parodon cf. carrikeri
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
Lebiasinidae
Nannostomus sp.
Nannostomus harrisoni
Nannostomus trifasciatus
Nannostomus unifasciatus
Pyrrhulina australe
Pyrrhulina brevis
Pyrrhulina vittata
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
Prochilodontidae
Prochilodus nigricans
Prochilodus cf. nigricans
Prochilodus sp. 1
Prochilodus sp. 2
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
Siluriformes
Ageneiosidae
Ageneiosus brevifilis
Ageneiosus cf. caucanus **
Ageneiosus dentatus
Ageneiosus madeirensis
Ageneiosus sp.
Ageneiosus sp.
Ageneiosus ucayalensis
Tympanopleura sp.
Tympanopleura sp.
P
P
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
Aspredinidae
Amaralia sp.
Bunocephalus coracoideus **
Bunocephalus sp. 1
Bunocephalus sp. 2
Bunocephalus sp. 3
Bunocephalus sp.
Bunocephalus sp. 1
Bunocephalus sp. 2
Bunocephalus sp. 3
Dysichthys bifidus **
Dysichthys cf. aleuropsis **
Dysichthys cf. amazonicus **
Dysichthys cf. depressus **
Xiliphius cf. melanopterus **
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
-
-
P
-
Astroblepidae
Astroblepus longiceps
Astroblepus sp.
-
-
P
P
-
-
Auchenipteridae
Auchenipterichthys thoracatus
Auchenipterus nigripinnis
Auchenipterus nuchalis
Auchenipterus cf. nuchalis
Centromochlus cf. heckelii **
Centromochlus sp. 1
Centromochlus sp. 2
Entomocorus benjamini
Epapterus dispilurus
Parauchenipterus striatulus
Pseudotatia? sp.
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Tatia altae **
Tatia aulopygia
Tatia cf. intermedia
Tatia cf. perugiae **
Tatia sp.
Trachelyopterus coriaceus
Trachelyopterus cf. galeatus
Trachelyopterus cf. galeatus
Trachelyopterus maculosus
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
-
-
Callichthyidae
Brochis britskii
Brochis multiradiatus
Brochis splendens
Callichthys callichthys
Corydoras acutus
Corydoras aeneus
Corydoras armatus
Corydoras bolivianus
Corydoras geryi
Corydoras hastatus
Corydoras cf. latus
Corydoras cf. loretoensis **
Corydoras cf. napoensis **
Corydoras punctatus
Corydoras sp.
Corydoras sp.
Corydoras sp. 1
Corydoras sp. 2
Corydoras trilineatus **
Dianema longibarbis
Hoplosternum littorale
Megalechis thoractus
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
Cetopsidae
Cetopsis sp.
Hemicetopsis candiru
Pseudocetopsis plumbeus
Pseudocetopsis sp.
Pseudocetopsis sp.
P
-
-
P
P
P
P
-
-
Doradidae
Acanthodoras cataphractus **
Acanthodoras spinosissimus
Agamyxis flavopictus
Agamyxis pectinifrons **
Amblydoras hancockii
Amblydoras cf. hancockii
Anadoras cf. grypus **
Anadoras weddellii
Astrodoras asterifrons
Doras cf. carinatus **
Doras eigenmanni
Doras fimbriatus
Doras punctatus
Doras sp.
Hemidoras microstomus **
Megalodoras irwini
Opsodoras humeralis
Opsodoras cf. humeralis
Opsodoras stubelii
Opsodoras cf. stubelii
Opsodoras sp. 1
Opsodoras sp. 2
Platydoras costatus
Pseudodoras niger
Pterodoras granulosus
Trachydoras atripes
Trachydoras cf. atripes
Trachydoras paraguayensis
Trachydoras cf. paraguayensis
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
Helogenidae
Helogenes marmoratus
-
P
-
-
-
Hypophthalmidae
Hypophthalmus edentatus
Hypophthalmus marginatus
-
-
P
P
P
-
-
281
TABLE I (continued)
FISHES FROM THE BOLIVIAN AMAZONIAN REGION
(Explanation of localities and sources of information at end of table)
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Loricariidae
Ancistrus cf. bolivianus
Ancistrus cf. megalostomus
Ancistrus sp. 1
Ancistrus sp. 2
Ancistrus sp. 3
Ancistrus sp. 4
Ancistrus sp.
Ancistrus sp.
Ancistrus cf. temminckii
Aphanotorulus frankei
Aphanotorulus unicolor **
Cochliodon cf. cochliodon **
Cochliodon sp. 1
Cochliodon sp. 2
Crossoloricaria sp. **
Farlowella acestrichthys
Farlowella cf. oxyrryncha **
Farlowella sp. 1
Farlowella sp. 2
Farlowella sp.
Farlowella sp. 1
Farlowella sp. 2
Glyptoperichthys lituratus
Glyptoperichthys punctatus
Hemiodontichthys acipenserinus
Hypoptopoma joberti
Hypoptopoma sp.
Hypoptopoma thoracatum
Hypoptopomatinae sp.
Hypoptopomatinae sp. nov. ?
Hypostomus bolivianus
Hypostomus cf. chaparae
Hypostomus emarginatus
Hypostomus cf. popoi
Hypostomus sp. 1
Hypostomus sp. 2
Hypostomus sp. 3
Hypostomus sp. 4
Hypostomus sp.
Hypostomus sp. 2
Hypostomus sp. 3
Hypostomus sp. 1
Hypostomus sp. 2
Hypostomus sp. 3
Hypostomus sp. 4
Hypostomus sp. 5
Lamontichthys filamentosus
Lamontichthys cf. filamentosus
Liposarcus disjunctivus
Liposarcus disjunctivus (sp. nov.)
Loricaria cf. simillima
Loricaria sp.
Loricaria sp.
Loricariidae sp.
Loricariinae sp.
Loricariichthys cf. maculatus
Loricariichthys sp.
Loricariichthys sp.
Otocinclus mariae
Otocinclus cf. mariae
Panaque sp.
Panaque sp. n 1
Panaque sp. n 2
Parotocinclus sp. **
Peckoltia arenaria
Peckoltia cf. arenaria
Planiloricaria cryptodon
Pseudohemiodon cf. lamina **
Pseudohemiodon sp. 1
Pseudohemiodon sp. 2
Pseudohemiodon sp. 3
Pseudohemiodon sp.
Pseudohemiodon thorectes
Pterosturisoma microps
Pterygoplichthys sp.
Rineloricaria beni
Rineloricaria lanceolata
282
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
P
P
P
-
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
-
Pimelodidae
Brachyglanis? sp. **
P
Brachyplatystoma filamentosum
Brachyplatystoma flavicans
Brachyrhamdia martae **
P
Callophysus macropterus
Cetopsorhamdia phantasia **
P
Cheirocerus eques **
P
Duopalatinus cf. malarmo **
P
Hemisorubim platyrhynchos
P
Heptapterus longior **
P
Heptapterus sp.
P
Imparfinis bolivianus
Imparfinis cochabambae
Imparfinis guttatus
Imparfinis sp.
P
Imparfinis stictonotus
P
Imparfinis cf. stictonotus
Leiarius marmoratus
P
Megalonema platanum
Megalonema sp.
P
Megalonema sp. nov.
P
Microglanis sp.
P
Microglanis sp.
Paulicea lutkeni
Phractocephalus hemioliopterus Pimelodella cf. boliviana **
P
Pimelodella cf. chaparae
Pimelodella cristata
P
Pimelodella gracilis
P
Pimelodella hasemani **
P
Pimelodella cf. itapicuruensis ** P
Pimelodella mucosa
Pimelodella roccae
Pimelodella serrata
Pimelodella cf. serrata
P
Pimelodella sp.
Pimelodidae sp.
P
Pimelodidae sp.
Pimelodina flavipinnis
Pimelodus “altipinnis” **
P
Pimelodus altissimus (sp. nov.) ** P
Pimelodus armatus **
P
Pimelodus cf. blochii
P
Pimelodus cf. maculatus-blochi
Pimelodus ornatus
Pimelodus cf. pantherinus **
P
Pimelodus sp. 1
P
Pimelodus sp. 2
P
Pimelodus sp. 3
P
Pimelodus sp. 4
P
Pinirampus pirinampu
Platysilurus barbatus
Pseudopimelodus zungaro
Pseudopimelodus sp. 1
Pseudopimelodus sp. 2
Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum
P
Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum
Rhamdia quelen
Rhamdia sp.
P
Rhamdia sp.
Rhamdia sp.
Sorubim lima
P
Sorubimichthys planiceps
-
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
Trichomycteridae
Acanthopoma cf. bondi **
Apomatoceros sp.
Gyrinurus batrachostoma
-
P
P
-
-
Rineloricaria cf. lanceolata
Rineloricaria sp.
Rineloricaria sp.
Rineloricaria sp.
Scoloplax cf. dicra **
Scoloplax sp.
Spatuloricaria cf. evansii
Sturisoma nigrirostrum
Sturisoma cf. nigrirostrum
P
-
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
TABLE I (continued)
FISHES FROM THE BOLIVIAN AMAZONIAN REGION
(Explanation of localities and sources of information at end of table)
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
-
Gymnotiformes
Apteronotidae
Adontosternarchus clarkae **
P
Adontosternarchus sachsi
Apteronotus albifrons
P
Apteronotus bonapartii
P
Apteronotus sp.
Porotergus cf. gimbeli
Porotergus cf. gymnotus
Sternarchorhynchus oxyrhynchus Sternarchorhynchus sp.
-
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
-
Electrophoridae
Electrophorus electricus **
P
-
-
-
-
Gymnotidae
Gymnotus anguillaris
Gymnotus cf. anguillaris
Gymnotus carapo
Gymnotus cf. coatesi **
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
-
P
-
Hypopomidae
Brachyhypopomus brevirostris
P
Brachyhypopomus cf. brevirostris Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus **
Brachyhypopomus sp.
P
Gymnotiforme
Hypopomus cf. artedi
Hypopomus sp. 1
Hypopomus sp. 2
Hypopygus lepturus
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
-
-
Rhamphichthyidae
Gymnorhamphichthys hypostomus Rhamphichthys rostratus
Rhamphichthys sp.
-
P
-
P
P
P
P
-
-
Sternopygidae
Distocyclus conirostris
Eigenmannia humboldtii
Eigenmannia macrops **
Eigenmannia cf. trilineata **
Eigenmannia virescens
Rhabdolichops caviceps **
Rhabdolichops troscheli
Sternopygus macrurus
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
Homodiaetus cf. maculatus
Homodiaetus sp.
Homodiaetus sp.
Ochmacanthus cf. alternus **
Ochmacanthus sp.
Ochmacanthus sp.
Paracanthopoma sp.
Plectrochilus sp.
Plectrochilus sp.
Pseudostegophilus nemurus
Trichomycteridae sp.
Trichomycterus cf. barbouri
Trichomycterus sp.
Tridentopsis pearsoni **
Vandellia cirrhosa
Vandellia hasemani
Cyprinodontiformes
Rivulidae
Cynolebias sp.
Pterolebias sp.
Rivulidae sp.
Rivulus sp.
Rivulus sp.
Rivulus sp.
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
-
P
P
-
-
-
TAXA
Bolivia
Noel
Bolivian Madre Itenez
AquaRAP Kempff Amazon
de
(or
Mercado
Dios Guapore)
Beloniformes
Belonidae
Potamorrhaphis cf. eigenmanni
Potamorrhaphis sp.
Potamorrhaphis sp.
Strongylura sp.
P
-
P
-
P
P
-
P
-
Synbranchiformes
Synbranchidae
Synbranchus marmoratus
P
P
P
-
P
Perciformes
Cichlidae
Aequidens dorsiger
Aequidens sp. 1
Aequidens sp. 2
Aequidens sp. 3
Aequidens cf. paraguayensis **
Aequidens cf. tetramerus
Aequidens cf. tetramerus
Aequidens viridis
Aequidens cf. vittatus
Apistogramma inconspicua
Apistogramma linkei
Apistogramma sp. 1
Apistogramma sp. 2
Apistogramma sp. 3
Apistogramma sp. 4
Apistogramma sp. 1
Apistogramma sp. 2
Astronotus crassipinnis
Batrachops sp.
Biotodoma cupido
Chaetobranchiopsis orbicularis
Chaetobranchus flavescens
Cichla monoculus
Cichla cf. monoculus
Cichlasoma boliviense
Cichlasoma severum **
Cichlidae sp.
Crenicara sp.
Crenicara cf. unctulata **
Crenicichla cf. heckeli **
Crenicichla johanna
Crenicichla lepidota
Crenicichla semicincta
Crenicichla sp. 1
Crenicichla sp. 2
Crenicichla sp.
Crenicichla sp.
Geophagus megasema
Heros sp.
Heros sp.
Laetacara dorsigera
Mesonauta festivus
Mesonauta cf. insignis **
Microgeophagus altispinosa
Satanoperca cf. acuticeps **
Satanoperca jurupari
Satanoperca pappatera
Satanoperca sp.
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
-
Eleotridae
Eleotridae sp.
-
-
P
-
-
Sciaenidae
Pachypops sp.
Pachyurus sp.
Plagioscion squamosissimus
P
P
-
P
P
P
P
Pleuronectiformes
Soleidae
Achirus achirus
-
P
P
-
-
P: Presence; -: Absence of given species;
**: Species collected by AquaRAP and believed to be new records for Bolivian Amazon.
Locality information for fishes in Noel Kempff Mercado is from Sarmiento (1998). Locality information for fishes in the Bolivian Amazon, Madre de
Dios, and Itenez (or Guapore) columns is taken from Lauzanne et al. (1991). Note that Madre de Dios and Itenez (or Guapore) are subsections of the
Bolivian Amazon, and that the Bolivian Amazon includes additional basins not indicated in this table.
SEP 2000, VOL. 25 Nº 6
283