Herichthys steindachneri (Jordan & Snyder, 1899)

Mejía, Omar, Pérez-Miranda, Fabián, León-Romero, Yatzil, Soto-Galera, Eduardo & Luna, Efraín de, 2015, Morphometric variation of the Herichthys bartoni (Bean, 1892) species group (Teleostei: Cichlidae): How many species comprise H. labridens (Pellegrin, 1903)?, Neotropical Ichthyology 13 (1), pp. 61-76 : 71

Herichthys steindachneri ( Jordan & Snyder, 1899)

Cichlasoma steindachneri Jordan & Snyder, 1899: 143-144 [original description]. - Regan, 1905: 444-445 [redescription]. - Miller, 1976: 20 [citation]. -Taylor & Miller, 1983: 1-6 [citation]. - Miller et al., 2005: 403-404 [catalog].

Herichthys steindachneri . -León-Romero et al., 2012: 1021-1026 [phylogenetic analysis]. -De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano, 2013: 117-119 [redescription].

Nosferatu steindachneri . - De la Maza-Benignos et al., 2014: in press [citation].

Diagnosis. Herichthys steindachneri could be distinguished from the rest of the species of the group by its long head, which ranges from 89.6% to 113.2%, in comparison with the body height at the basis of the pelvic fins.

Description. Morphometric and meristic data are summarized in Tables 3-4.

Color in life. Body greenish-gray, darker in the dorsal to almost white in the ventral region; a series of blotches that extend from the posterior end of the eye to the basis of the caudal fin, blotches in the second half of the body could form up to six bars. Brown or black dots in the head up to basis of the pectoral fins but not in the dorsal fin, fins yellowish to green, dorsal, anal and caudal usually with a brown or black blotch at its base; red to purple axil mark present.

Color in alcohol. Body dark gray to light brown, lighter at the ventral region, with one series of black blotches, fins turn whitish, axial mark could disappear.

Distribution. Río Gallinas and its tributaries. There are historical records of its presence in El Pujal and El Rodeo San Luis Potosí and in Villa Aldama and Jaumave, Tamaulipas.

Remarks. In the recent redescription of the species, De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano (2013) state that this species could be distinguished from the rest of the species by having the lower jaw extending the upper jaw (prognathous), whereas the opposite condition, jaws of equal size, are rare and present mostly in juveniles. In the specimens that we analyzed, the proportion of lower/upper maxilla (prognathous) was barely 1.03; this condition was present in 54% of the specimens, with no relationship to size (51 mm to 155 mm). Jaws of equal size were present in 46% of the individuals and ranged from 48 mm to 150 mm in standard length; because of this, we rejected the use of this trait as a diagnostic characteristic. Conversely, De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano (2013) suggest that the descriptions of Jordan & Snyder (1900) and Meek (1904) were based on a composite of H. steindachneri and H. pame . The proportions found by Jordan & Snyder (1900) were similar to those found by us. Nevertheless, we found 5 to 9 gill rakers, while in the original description of H. steindachneri , Jordan & Snyder (1900) found 10, a value similar to that found in H. pame (9-11) by De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano (2013). Meek (1904) description includes V anal spines, seven anal rays and an upper jaw that is slightly longer than the lower. The extreme low number of anal rays (7) reported by Meek (1904) was found only in a single specimen of H. molango (= H. cf. labridens ) reviewed in this study, and an upper jaw slightly longer than the lower was only found in H. pame (lower jaw/upper jaw proportion = 0.98). For the former, we concur with De la Maza-Benignos & Lozano-Vilano (2013) proposal that the descriptions of Jordan & Snyder (1900) and Meek (1904) included two different species. Contrary to that stated earlier, the geographic distribution of this species includes not only río Gallinas but also its tributaries, río Tamasopo, río Agua Buena, and río Ojo Frío in San Luis Potosí. We have historical records of this species in El Pujal and El Rodeo, the municipality of Río Verde, San Luis Potosí and Villa Aldama and Jaumave, Tamaulipas. We claim that these specimens were correctly identified. According to Miller et al. (2005), H. steindachneri could be distinguished from the rest of the species by a long head that is usually greater than the body height at the pelvic fin basis. In the specimens analyzed in this study, the proportion of the head ranges from 89.6% to 113.2% (X= 96.3%); this proportion was similar in Jaumave, ranging from 91.5% to 102% (X=94.6%) and Villa Aldama 93.6% to 95.5% (X= 94.7%) specimens. The head of H. steindachneri is not longer as Miller et al. (2005) suggested, but it is larger than the head observed in other species. For example, in H. pame this proportion ranges from 75.3% to 86.1% (X= 81.4%), but only in the specimens of H. cf. labridens (= H. molango ) from Jaumave does this value range from 79.5% to 85.6% (X=83.3%), so there is no chance to confuse the two species.

Material examined. Mexico: El Pujal, SLP. ENCB-P P82, 11, 66.9-155.8 mm SL, Ciénega cerca de Jaumave, Tamps. ENCB-P P1742, 9, 48.0- 102.84 mm SL, Tamasopo, SLP. ENCB-P P3898, 1, 126.4 mm SL, El Rodeo, municipality of Río Verde. ENCB-P P4823, 1, 73.3 mm SL, [Agua Buena, SLP. ENCB-P P4876, 1, 65.0 mm SL, Cascadas de Tamasopo, SLP. ENCB-P P6010, 7, 62.0- 98.1 mm SL, río Gallinas, SLP. ENCB-P P6111, 4, 54.2-94.1 mm SL, río Tamasopo, SLP. ENCB-P P6114, 10, 51.6-110.2 mm SL.