First record of Gymnogeophagus lipokarenos Malabarba, Malabarba & Reis, 2015 (Teleostei: Cichliformes) from Argentina

Gymnogeophagus lipokarenos is registered for the first time from Argentina in the Province of Misiones. The species was originally described as endemic to the Upper Uruguay freshwater ecoregion in Brazil. Our findings extend its distribution into the Lower Uruguay ecoregion throughout the province of Misiones.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Making visible the invisible. A survey of fish diversity in the Iguazú National Park, Misiones, Argentina

El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar un relevamiento de los peces del Parque Nacional Iguazú y designar aquellas especies vulnerables con valor especial (EVVES). Como resultado de este proyecto se registraron 104 especies, de los cuales 28 son endemismos para la cuenca y 13 representan nuevos registros para la Argentina. Por último, se identificaron 87 especies del PNI con valor especial que representan el 83% del total de peces registrados.The aim of this study is to survey the fish fauna of the Iguazu National Park and designate those vulnerable species with special value (EVVES). As a result of this project 104 species were recorded, of which 28 are endemic to the basin and 13 represent new records for Argentina. Finally, 87 species of PNI with special value representing 83% of total fish recorded were identified.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoCentro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Making visible the invisible. A survey of fish diversity in the Iguazú National Park, Misiones, Argentina

El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar un relevamiento de los peces del Parque Nacional Iguazú y designar aquellas especies vulnerables con valor especial (EVVES). Como resultado de este proyecto se registraron 104 especies, de los cuales 28 son endemismos para la cuenca y 13 representan nuevos registros para la Argentina. Por último, se identificaron 87 especies del PNI con valor especial que representan el 83% del total de peces registrados.The aim of this study is to survey the fish fauna of the Iguazu National Park and designate those vulnerable species with special value (EVVES). As a result of this project 104 species were recorded, of which 28 are endemic to the basin and 13 represent new records for Argentina. Finally, 87 species of PNI with special value representing 83% of total fish recorded were identified.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoCentro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Historical biogeography of cichlid fishes in Usumacinta province (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize)

Historical biogeography of cichlid fishes within the Usumacinta province (Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize) is reviewed based on newly collected material specifically for this study. Five areas of endemism within the province were recognized using Parsimony analysis of endemicity. Dispersal-Vicariance analysis implemented in S-DIVA suggests only one of them (the Grijalva-Usumacinta) as the ancestral area for the whole fauna. Other areas of endemism within the Usumacinta province were colonized from this area by dispersals. This biogeographic interpretation suggests a long evolution of the richest cichlid fauna in Middle America in the Grijalva-Usumacinta area of endemism in a sympatric context

Review of molecular phylogeography of \kur{Crematogaster polita} (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Crematogaster polita group Smith F. 1865 is tropical species, where it forms dominant elements of the arboreal fauna. This species has polydomous large colonies characterized by territorial behaviour. Its morphology is very variable and therefore identification of this species is very difficult. This thesis review molecular methods that are used for study of population and can be alternatively used for identification of cryptic species

Draft worksheets for Zoologickou zahrahu Ohrada Hluboká nad Vltavou

The theoretical part of the thesis deals with different teaching forms focusing on teaching forms used in extracurricular teaching. The second section of theoretical part summarizes the requirements for educational material used in this form of teaching. The main outcome of the thesis is self-contained worksheets for Zoological garden Ohrada Hluboká nad Vltavou named "DO YOU KNOW THE ANIMALS IN THE ZOO" for children of the 2nd grade elementary school

Diversity and evolution of the Middle American cichlid fishes (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with revised classification

We present a taxonomically complete and topologically robust molecular phylogeny of the Middle American heroine cichlids based on which we review their diversity and genus-level systematics. In order to ascertain the diversity of the group and its phylogeny we have used three nested taxon sampling analyses of the concatenated nDNA/mtDNA datasets and additionally to these analyses we present a summary of the results of a new Next Generation Sequencing-generated nuclear phylogeny based on a data set of ~ 140,000 informative characters. The NGS ddRAD phylogeny has a species-level sampling covering virtually all species (including the enigmatic Cichlasoma microlepis Dahl, 1960) with multiple sequenced specimens per species. Based on our results the Middle American heroine cichlids are made up of three main clades. The three clades (the herichthyines, the amphilophines, and the astatheroines) are however not each other sister groups since they are interspersed with South American (Australoheros, Caquetaia, Chocoheros, Heroina, Mesoheros) and Antillean (Nandopsis) genera and they represent probably two separate colonization events of Middle America from South America, probably via the Antilles. Our study reveals many cases of cytonuclear discordance and/or introgressive hybridization both at the genus and deeper levels stressing the importance to study the nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenetic signals independently and not solely in concatenated analyses. We have found that a great majority of morphological characters are ecologically correlated and that they form only a limited number of functionally-determined combinations – i.e. ecomorphs. We have found five main cranial ecomorphs but only two postcranial ecomorphs (the lotic and lentic ecomorphs, plus the undifferentiated ancestral character combination). The cranial and postcranial ecomorphs are not combined completely randomly having produced thirteen modular whole-body ecomorphs. Both the cranial and postcranial ecomorphs, and even their combinations, have evolved repeatedly in the Middle American cichlids in the same habitats both in sympatry as well as in allopatry. Our analyses of the diversity of Middle American cichlid clade support the existence of 31 genera in Middle America (plus six in South America and one in the Greater Antilles) as separate evolutionary lineages occupying separate adaptive zones. Nine new genera are described here for species and species groups that have lacked a genus level name to this day or were associated with other unrelated genera. We also review the species level diversity based on the mtDNA cytb gene population-level analysis. Furthermore, we provide a new biogeographical analysis of the group which explains their evolutionary history and demonstrates that biogeography is a much better indicator of evolutionary relationships in this fish group than are most morphological characters due to their ecological correlation

First record of Astyanax xiru Lucena, Castro and Bertaco, 2013 (Characiformes: Characidae) from the río Uruguay basin of Argentina

Fil: Casciotta, Jorge Rafael. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Almirón, Adriana Edith. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Ricanova, Stepanka. University of South Bohemia. Faculty of Science. Department of Zoology; Czech RepublicFil: Dragov, Klára. University of South Bohemia. Faculty of Science. Department of Zoology; Czech RepublicFil: Piálek, Lubomir. University of South Bohemia. Faculty of Science. Department of Zoology; Czech RepublicFil: Rican, Oldrich. University of South Bohemia. Faculty of Science. Department of Zoology; Czech Republi

Species diversity in Gymnogeophagus (Teleostei: Cichlidae) and comparative biogeography of cichlids in the Middle Paraná basin, an emerging hotspot of fish endemism

We address the diversity of two species groups of the cichlid genus Gymnogeophagus in the Middle Parana basin using molecular phylogeography and traditional morphological characters and conclude that they are composed of a higher diversity of endemic species than previously thought. The nominal Gymnogeophagus setequedas is found non-monophyletic with each phylogeographic lineage endemic to a single tributary of the Middle Parana (Rio Acaray, Rio Monday, the Itaipu area). Prime candidates for the origin of the species in the G. setequedas group are waterfalls that separate most of the tributaries from the Middle Parana River. The postulated waterfall- and rapids-driven fragmentation of Gymnogeophagus in the studied area falls into a narrow time window coinciding with the Pleistocene epoch. We further demonstrate that the endemism in Gymnogeophagus shows a high degree of biogeographical congruence with other sympatric cichlid genera. The Middle Parana basin has up to 27 globaly endemic species of cichlid fishes in three genera and 21 of these species are endemics of single tributaries of the Middle Parana. As a final consideration we address threats to the long term survival of the still poorly known but clearly highly endemic and endangered fish fauna of the Middle Parana basin.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Phylogenomics of pike cichlids (Cichlidae: Crenicichla ) of the C. mandelburgeri species complex: rapid ecological speciation in the Iguazú River and high endemism in the Middle Paraná basin

The Crenicichla mandelburgeri species complex from the Middle Parana basin is a diverse group of cichlid species and contains all known ecomorphs found within the entire genus Crenicichla. Here, we study the phylogenetic relationships within the C. mandelburgeri species complex using ddRAD sequencing with focus on its two candidate species flocks endemic to the Iguazu and Urugua-i Rivers, and on two putative sympatric species in the Piray Guazu River. These species flocks include four and three syntopic species, respectively, which are strongly adapted to different trophic niches and include derived ecomorphs of Crenicichla (molluscivores, a periphyton grazer, and a crevice-feeding thick-lipped invertivore). Our phylogenomic analyses strongly support monophyly and rapid diversification of the Iguazu species flock, but reveal more complex evolutionary histories in the Urugua-i and Piray Guazu tributaries. Most species in the Middle Parana, including one species in the Urugua-i and both species in the Piray Guazu show cytonuclear discordance, and in both of these tributaries, we also found hybridization in one of the resident species. Population-level analyses reveal complete isolation of the Iguazu species and coupled with their dramatic ecological diversity, this radiation exemplifies characteristics of a species flock that arose via ecological speciation.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoComisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la provincia de Buenos Aire