The knowledge of freshwater fishes in remote Andean mountains is scarce and restricted to changes of occurrence distribution along a specific gradient. The high number of endemic fish species requires further studies regarding their biology and their conservation status. The present study aims to estimate the length-weight, length- length, and length-girth relations for nine native freshwater fish species representing five families (Loricariidae, Characidae, Heptapteridae, Crenuchidae, and Parodontidae): Chaetostoma thomsoni Regan, 1904; Lasiancistrus caucanus Eigenmann, 1912; Rineloricaria jubata (Boulenger, 1902); Bryconamericus huilae Román- Valencia, 2003; Gephyrocharax melanocheir Eigenmann, 1912; Pimelodella chagresi (Steindachner, 1876); Rhamdia guatemalensis (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824); Characidium fasciatum Reinhardt, 1867; Parodon suborbitalis Valenciennes, 1850. The fishes were collected in the Suaza River (Huila, Colombia). These are the first length-weight relations reported for all these species, mostly endemic to the Colombian Andes. The report also provides the new maximum size for four species

Gaspar, S. (Sergio)

Miranda, R. (Rafael)

Peláez-Rodríguez, M. (Marlon)

Tobes, I. (Ibon)

Miranda-Ferreiro, R. (Rafael)

Universidad de Navarra

Morphometric relations of freshwater fishes of the Suaza River (Huila Department, Colombia)

Dadun, University of Navarra

ACTA ICHTHYOLOGICA ET PISCATORIA (2016) 46 (2): 137–140 DOI: 10.3750/AIP2016.46.2.11 MORPHOMETRIC RELATIONS OF FRESHWATER FISHES OF THE SUAZA RIVER (HUILA DEPARTMENT, COLOMBIA)Ibon TOBES 1, 2, Rafael MIRANDA 1*, Sergio GASPAR 3, and Marlon PELÁEZ-RODRÍGUEZ 41 Department of Environmental Biology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain2 Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático (BioCamb), Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Machala y Sabanilla, Cotocollao, Quito, Ecuador3 Ekolur Asesoría Ambiental, Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa, Spain4 Universidad de la Amazonía, Florencia, Caquetá, ColombiaTobes I., Miranda R., Gaspar S., Peláez-Rodríguez M. 2016. Biometric relations of freshwater ﬁ shes of the Suaza River (Huila Department, Colombia). Acta Ichthyol. Piscat.  46 (2): 137–140.Abstract. The knowledge of freshwater ﬁ shes in remote Andean mountains is scarce and restricted to changes of occurrence distribution along a speciﬁ c gradient. The high number of endemic ﬁ sh species requires further studies regarding their biology and their conservation status. The present study aims to estimate the length–weight, length–length, and length–girth relations for nine native freshwater ﬁ sh species representing ﬁ ve families (Loricariidae, Characidae, Heptapteridae, Crenuchidae, and Parodontidae): Chaetostoma thomsoni Regan, 1904; Lasiancistrus caucanus Eigenmann, 1912; Rineloricaria jubata (Boulenger, 1902); Bryconamericus huilae Román-Valencia, 2003; Gephyrocharax melanocheir Eigenmann, 1912; Pimelodella chagresi (Steindachner, 1876); Rhamdia guatemalensis (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824); Characidium fasciatum Reinhardt, 1867; Parodon suborbitalis Valenciennes, 1850. The ﬁ shes were collected in the Suaza River (Huila, Colombia). These are the ﬁ rst length–weight relations reported for all these species, mostly endemic to the Colombian Andes. The report also provides the new maximum size for four species. Keywords: length, weight, girth, neotropical ﬁ shes, mountain river, Andes* Correspondence: Dr. Rafael Miranda, Departamento de Biología Ambiental, Universidad de Navarra, Irunlarrea 1, 31008 Pamplona, Spain, e-mail: (RM) rmiranda@unav.es, (IT) ibontobes@gmail.com, (SG) sgaspar1@hotmail.com, (MP-R) mapelaez1@hotmail.com.In ﬁ sheries biology, the knowledge of length–weight relations (LWRs) of ﬁ shes is useful: • In determining weight and biomass when only length measurements are available; • For providing information on energy budget, reproductive patterns, and feeding conditions of individuals (Park and Huh 2015); and • For management and conservation of natural populations (Hossain et al. 2012).Regarding other biometric relations, maximum girth of ﬁ sh body is related to the efﬁ ciency of gill and trammel nets, determining the size of the ﬁ sh caught by different mesh sizes (Kurkilahti et al. 2002). High selection effectiveness would lower the pressure on undersized ﬁ sh, and thereby increase the future size of an exploitable stock (Sistiaga et al. 2009). Relations between total and standard lengths of ﬁ shes are also important in management for comparative growth studies (Sandoval-Huerta et al. 2015). These relations have been studied for the most common and exploited species, nevertheless few LWRs are known for ﬁ sh without a prominent commercial interest that use to be restricted to remote areas (Gaspar et al. 2012). Colombia is considered one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, harboring probably more than 10% of global biodiversity (Arbeláez-Cortés 2013). The freshwater ﬁ sh diversity in the Colombia Andes is very high with 188 reported species, the majority of which inhabit only the Colombian Andean basins (Maldonado-Ocampo et al. 2005). However, our knowledge of the biology of these ﬁ shes is very poor. In this context, we estimated biometric relations for nine captured species from an ecological survey in the Suaza River, located on the Colombian Andes, as a ﬁ rst approach to study the biology of ﬁ sh species in this remote area.  This work represents the ﬁ rst biological survey of the Suaza River, in Colombia. The river was studied Tobes et al.138from the source, in the Cueva de los Guacharos National Park, almost to the conﬂ uence with the Magdalena River (1°38’–1°59′N, 76°06′–75°46′W). The river ﬂ ows, from south to North, for 136 km through the cloud forest and Andean páramo ecosystems of the Huila Department. The altitude varies from more than 1880 to 720 m above sea level in the Magdalena River junction. Fish sampling was conducted using a backpack electroﬁ shing unit (Hans Grassl model IG200/2D, 300–600 V, 0.2–2 A) at eleven sampling sites located along the river in January 2011. The collected ﬁ shes were anesthetized and subsequently measured to the nearest 0.01 cm total length (TL), weighed with a digital scale to an accuracy of 0.05 g, and released after the survey, with the exception of some voucher specimens kept for posterior identiﬁ cation.In the laboratory, ﬁ sh were preserved in alcohol (75%) and identiﬁ ed to species using taxonomic keys and scientiﬁ c literature (Maldonado-Ocampo et al. 2005, Mojica et al. 2005, Galvis et al. 2006). Once identiﬁ ed, specimens were deposited in the ﬁ sh collection of the Universidad de la Amazonia, Florencia, Colombia.The parameters of LWRs were estimated using the allometric model W = aTLbwhere W is the total body weight (expressed in grams), TL is the total length (expressed in centimeters), a is the intercept and b the slope of the regression line. Length–length relations (LLRs) were also estimated by linear regression analysis: TL = a + bSLwhere SL is the standard length. Only extreme outliers attributed to data error were omitted from analyses (Froese 2006). The 95% conﬁ dence limits (CL) of b were calculated (Zar 1999) to estimate differences between calculated slopes and those estimated in the future.Maximum girth (G) of a ﬁ sh was obtained from the maximum height and width, using the approximate formula proposed by Ramanujan in 1914 (cited after Arfken and Weber 2000). Maximum height and width were measured to the nearest 0.01 cm with a caliper. The perimeter of ellipse (where minor and major radii are the maximum height and width) is more accurate than the maximum circumference to estimate the true perimeter of the ﬁ sh body. The length–girth relations (LGRs) between ﬁ sh TL and maximum girth were estimated by linear regression analysis: G = a + bTLStatistical analyses were performed using PAST software package (Hammer et al. 2001). Descriptive statistics of the parameters studied and results of the regression analyses are shown in Table 1. A total of 303 specimens belonging to ﬁ ve families and nine species were analyzed. The following species were studied: Chaetostoma thomsoni Regan, 1904; Lasiancistrus caucanus Eigenmann, 1912; Rineloricaria jubata (Boulenger, 1902); Bryconamericus huilae Román-Valencia, 2003; Gephyrocharax melanocheir Eigenmann, 1912; Pimelodella chagresi (Steindachner, 1876); Rhamdia guatemalensis (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824); Characidium fasciatum Reinhardt, 1867; Parodon suborbitalis Valenciennes, 1850. The number of specimens ranged from 8 to 93 and TL ranged from 2.8 to 26.5, depending on species. All regressions were highly signiﬁ cant (P < 0.001), with r2 values being higher than 0.851 and the allometric coefﬁ cient b ranged from 2.91 for Rhamdia guatemalensis, to 3.44 for Characidium fasciatum. The estimated parameters of the LGRs and LLRs of the same species are presented in Table 2. Length–length relations were highly signiﬁ cant (P < 0.001), with r2 values ranged from 0.803 for Pimelodella chagresi, to 0.993 for Bryconamericus huilae. The knowledge on the biology of the presently studied ﬁ sh species is scarce. Only one species (Bryconamericus huilae) has been evaluated and included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as least concern (Jimenez-Segura 2016). From the nine studied species, four of them are endemic species of Colombian Andes, and future efforts should be focused on the study of freshwater ﬁ shes of this singular region, seriously threatened for current and future exploitation projects (Finer et al. 2008, Finer and Jenkins 2012). All LWRs for the studied species were not previously estimated according to FishBase database (Froese and Pauly 2016) and new maximum sizes for four out of the nine studied species were also provided (Table 1). Although at least 100 specimens are adequate to estimate LWRs, for rare species collected in remote areas, such as those of the present study, fewer measurements are acceptable (Froese et al. 2011).The allometric coefﬁ cient b felt within the expected range of 2.5–3.5 as suggested by Carlander (1969) for ﬁ sh’s growth and Froese and Pauly (2016). High value of this coefﬁ cient for Characidium fasciatum was similar that estimated for the species Characidium zebra Eigenmann, 1909 in other Andean river (Gaspar et al. 2012) associated to the tendency to present heavier, compact bodies as they grow (Carlander 1969).The parameters of the LWRs can vary signiﬁ cantly according to sex and season, or due to other factors such as feeding rate, gonad maturity, growth phase, habitat, health and preservation techniques (Hossain et al. 2008), all of which were not accounted for in the present study. Nevertheless, these results will contribute to a better understanding of the poorly known Andean freshwater ﬁ shes; and serve as baseline data for species without previous information on length–weight relations and for comparison with future studies of these ﬁ shes.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors are grateful to the Aljemiro Escobar, Edwin Lenin Morabowen and Kevin Usnavy Osorio for their Morphometry of ﬁ shes of Suaza, Colombia 139invaluable ﬁ eld assistance and friendship. We thank the collaborative efforts of J. I. Mojica (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia), F. Provenzano (Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela) and J. A. Maldonado-Ocampo (Pontiﬁ cia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia) for assistance to identiﬁ cation of species. The authors are grateful to the Asociación de Amigos–University of Navarra, which awarded Ibon Tobes a doctoral grant (2012–2014). Vice-rectory of Research of the Universidad de la Amazonia provided logistic and economics resources for the achievement of this work.REFERENCESArbeláez-Cortés E. 2013. Knowledge of Colombian biodiversity: Published and indexed. Biodiversity and Conservation 22: 2875–2906. DOI:  10.1007/s10531-013-0560-yArfken G.B., Weber H. 2000. Mathematical methods for physicists, 5th edn. Academic Press, London, UK. Carlander K. 1969. Handbook of freshwater ﬁ shery biology. Vol. 1. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA, USA.Finer M., Jenkins C.N. 2012. Proliferation of hydroelectric dams in the Andean Amazon and implications for Andes–Amazon connectivity. PloS one 7: e35126. DOI:  10.1371/journal.pone.0035126Finer M., Jenkins C.N., Pimm S.L., Keane B., Ross C. 2008. Oil and gas projects in the western Amazon: Threats to wilderness, biodiversity, and indigenous peoples. PloS one 3: e2932. DOI:  10.1371/journal.pone.0002932Froese R. 2006. Cube law, condition factor and weight–length relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 22: 241–253. DOI:  10.1111/j.1439-0426.2006.00805.xFroese R., Pauly D. (eds.) 2016. FishBase. [Version 01/2016] www.fi shbase.orgTable 1Descriptive statistics and estimated length–weight relation parameters for nine ﬁ sh species captured in Suaza River, Colombian AndesFamily  Species n Min TL Max TL a b 95% CL of b r2Loricariidae Chaetostoma thomsoni 46 2.8 13.4 0.0098 3.238 2.978–3.425 0.984Lasiancistrus caucanus 30 4.0 17.5 0.0059 3.340 3.116–3.633 0.964Rineloricaria jubata 8 9.7 12.2 0.0041 2.986 1.571–4.043 0.851Characidae Bryconamericus huilae 93 4.2 13.2 0.0060 3.285 3.142–3.405 0.904Gephyrocharax melanocheir 17 2.8 5.5 0.0060 3.354 1.732–3.830 0.887Heptapteridae Pimelodella chagresi 20 6.1 13.3 0.0071 3.024 2.777–3.282 0.967Rhamdia guatemalensis 37 10.3 26.5 0.0100 2.912 2.790–3.053 0.981Crenuchidae Characidium fasciatum 41 3.3 6.0 0.0049 3.441 3.288–3.610 0.966Parodontidae Parodon suborbitalis 11 10.7 14.9 0.0161 2.923 2.555–3.257 0.960LWR units: W in g and TL in cm; n = sample size, Min TL = minimum total length, Max TL = maximum total length, a and b = equation parameters, CL = conﬁ dence limits, r2 = coefﬁ cient of determination; Bold type = Maximum total length reported data (according to FishBase).Table 2Total length–maximum girth (TL–G) and total length–standard length (TL–SL) relations for nine ﬁ sh species captured in Suaza River, Colombian AndesSpecies nTL = a + Gx TL = a + SLxa b 95% CL of b r2 a b 95% CL of b r2Lasiancistrus caucanus 30 –0.065 0.817 0.795–0.891 0.989 –0.641 0.685 0.657–0.784 0.967Bryconamericus huilae 52 0.128 0.820 0.804–0.839 0.993 –0.609 0.636 0.601–0.672 0.938Chaetostoma thomsoni 42 –0.169 0.822 0.798–0.844 0.984 –0.571 0.750 0.704–0.784 0.967Characidium fasciatum 41 –0.382 0.924 0.878–0.969 0.983 –0.564 0.562 0.496–0.627 0.899Gephyrocharax melanocheir 17 –0.359 0.907 0.875-1.069 0.980 –0.247 0.623 0.541–1.168 0.838Parodon suborbitalis 11 –0.032 0.850 0.823–0.930 0.992 0.124 0.526 0.380–0.692 0.869Pimelodella chagresi 20 0.267 0.781 0.749–0.825 0.991 –0.203 0.462 0.359–0.572 0.803Rhamdia guatemalensis 37 –0.714 0.887 0.846–0.905 0.995 0.762 0.383 0.333–0.437 0.874Rineloricaria jubata 8 –0.234 0.829 0.489–0.992 0.876 1.513 0.256 0.204–0.316 0.913n = sample size, a and b = parameters of the equation, CL = conﬁ dence limits, r2 = coefﬁ cient of determination. Tobes et al.140Froese R., Tsikliras A.C., Stergiou K.I. 2011. Editorial note on weight–length relations of ﬁ shes. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 41 (4): 261–263. DOI:  10.3750/AIP2011.41.4.01Galvis G., Mojica J.I., Dique S.R., Castellanos C., Sánchez Duarte P., Arce M., Gutiérrez A., Jiménez L.F., Santos M., Vejarano S., Arbeláez F., Prieto E., Leiva M. 2006. Peces del Medio Amazonas: Región Leticia. Conservación Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia. [In Spanish.]Gaspar S., Tobes I., Miranda R., Leunda P.M., Peláez M. 2012. Length–weight relationships of sixteen freshwater ﬁ shes from the Hacha River and its tributaries (Amazon Basin, Caquetá, Colombia). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28: 667–670. DOI:  10.1111/j.1439-0426.2011.01928.xHammer Ø., Harper D.A.T., Ryan P.D. 2001. PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4: 9 p.Hossain, Y., Leunda P.M., Ohtomi J., Ahmed Z.F., Oscoz J., Miranda M. 2008. Biological aspects of the Ganges River sprat Corica soborna (Clupeidae) in the Mathabhanga River (SW Bangladesh). Cybium 32 (3): 241–246.Hossain M.Y., Rahman M.M., Fulanda B., Jewel M.A.S., Ahamed F., Ohtomi J. 2012. Length–weight and length–length relationships of ﬁ ve threatened ﬁ sh species from the Jamuna (Brahmaputra River tributary) River, northern Bangladesh. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28: 275–277. DOI:  10.1111/j.1439-0426.2011.01900.xKurkilahti M., Appelberg M., Hesthagen T., Rask M. 2002. Effects of ﬁ sh shape on gillnet selectivity: a study with Fulton’s condition factor. Fisheries Research 54: 153–170. DOI:  10.1016/S0165-7836(00)00301-5Jimenez-Segura L., Mojica J., Alonso J. C., Reis R., Lima F. 2016. Bryconamericus huilae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T167793A53824819. Downloaded on 17 June 2016. DOI:  10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T167793A6383481.enMaldonado-Ocampo J.A., Ortega-Lara A., Usma J.S., Galvis V.G., Villa-Navarro F.A., Vásquez G.L., Prada-Pedreros S., Ardila R.C. 2005. Peces de los Andes de Colombia. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, ARFO Editores, Bogota, Colombia. Mojica J.I., Galvis G., Arbeláez F., Santos M., Vejarano S., Prieto-Piraquive E., Arce M., Sánchez-Duarte P., Castellanos C., Gutiérrez A., Duque S.R., Lobón-Cerviá J., Granado-Lorencio C. 2005. Peces de la Cuenca del Río Amazonas en Colombia: Región de Leticia. Biota Colombiana 6: 191–210. Park J.M., Huh S.H. 2015. Length–weight relations for 29 demersal ﬁ shes caught by small otter trawl on the south-eastern coast of Korea. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 45 (4): 427–431. DOI:  10.3750/AIP2015.45.4.13Sandoval-Huerta E.R., Madrigal-Guridi X., Domínguez-Domínguez O., Ruiz-Campos G., González-Acosta A.F. 2015. Length–weight and length–length relations for 14 ﬁ sh species from the central Mexican Paciﬁ c coast. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 45 (2): 199–201. DOI:  10.3750/AIP2015.45.2.10Sistiaga M., Herrmann B., Larsen R.B. 2009. Investigation of the paired-gear method in selectivity studies. Fisheries Research 97: 196–205. DOI:  10.1016/j.ﬁ shres.2009.02.002Zar J.H. 1999. Biostatistical analysis. 4th edn. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA.  Received: 4 May 2016Accepted: 25 June 2016Published electronically: 30 June 2016

The knowledge of freshwater fishes in remote Andean mountains is scarce and restricted to changes of occurrence distribution along a specific gradient. The high number of endemic fish species requires further studies regarding their biology and their conservation status. The present study aims to estimate the length-weight, length- length, and length-girth relations for nine native freshwater fish species representing five families (Loricariidae, Characidae, Heptapteridae, Crenuchidae, and Parodontidae): Chaetostoma thomsoni Regan, 1904; Lasiancistrus caucanus Eigenmann, 1912; Rineloricaria jubata (Boulenger, 1902); Bryconamericus huilae Román-Valencia, 2003; Gephyrocharax melanocheir Eigenmann, 1912; Pimelodella chagresi (Steindachner, 1876); Rhamdia guatemalensis (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824); Characidium fasciatum Reinhardt, 1867; Parodon suborbitalis Valenciennes, 1850. The fishes were collected in the Suaza River (Huila, Colombia). These are the first length-weight relations reported for all these species, mostly endemic to the Colombian Andes. The report also provides the new maximum size for four species. © 2016, Scientific Society of Szczecin. All rights reserved

Tobes, Ibon

Miranda, Rafael

Gaspar, Sergio

Pelaez-Rodriguez, Marlon

DSpace Universidad Indoamerica

Morphometric relations of freshwater fishes of the Suaza River (Huila department, Colombia)

http://dadun.unav.edu/bitstream/10171/42474/1/pdf.pdf

Morphometric relations of freshwater fishes of the Suaza River (Huila Department, Colombia)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Universidad de Navarra

Dadun, University of Navarra

DSpace Universidad Indoamerica