A new freshwater clingfish (Pisces: Gobiesocidae) from Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Occurrence of the clingfish, Gobiesox fluviatilis (Gobiesociformes: Gobiesocidae), in the Rio Chapalagana, Mexico: confirmation of a historical record.
The mountain clingfish Gobiesox fluviatilis (Teleostei:Gobiesocidae) in the Rio Culiacan basin, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Freshwater clingfishes are small benthic fish inhabiting temperate and tropical waters, typically in areas with relatively high water velocity.
We collected the clingfishes described here along with multispotted goby (Sicydium multipunctatum) (sites 1-3), leopard splitfin (Xenotaenia resolanae) (sites 1-2), golden livebearer (Poeciliopsis baenschi) (sites 2-3), blackspotted livebearer (Poeciliopsis turneri) (site 2), mountain mullet (Agonostomus monticola) (site 3), and spotted sleeper (Eleotris picta) (site 3).
In addition to potential species overlap, our study indicates there is need for a revision of the Mexican freshwater clingfishes. Our data suggest higher variation in meristic and morphological attributes than formerly known from previously captured specimens.
At 137.8 mm SL, the specimen captured in site 2 is not only the largest ever reported specimen for the species or freshwater Mexican clingfishes, but also one of the largest freshwater gobiesocids reported worldwide.
Other native fishes collected with the mountain clingfish at the study site were Catostomus cf.
New localities for the rare Mexican clingfish Gobiesox fluviatilis, from Durango and Chihuahua.
36 genera and 140 species of clingfishes distributed mainly in the neritic zones of oceans of the world, with few species in freshwater habitats (Nelson, 2006).
