The Freshwater Fishes of
Western Ecuador

THE FISHES.-

Photographic guide to the genera: This link provides a photographic guide to the genera of freshwater fishes in western Ecuador.

Species List: ***Species List Updated January 2016*** The following species list is derived primarily from Jimenez et al. (2015) with modifications from other sources and periodic updates. Species names are followed by authors, superscript includes source for inclusion in list (see bottom of page for source references) and range in Ecuador. Suroccidental indicates southwestern Ecuador (Guayas and southern coastal drainages) and noroccidental indicates northwestern Ecuador (primarily drainages north of the Esmeraldas River drainage).

Order Cypriniformes:

Family Cyprinidae:

    Ctenopharyngodon
  • Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valencienes, 1844)1 (Exotic)
    Hypophthalmichthys
  • Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valencienes, 1844)1 (Exotic)
  • Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1845)1 (Exotic)

Order Characiformes:

Family Parodontidae:

Family Curimatidae:

Family Prochilodontidae:

Family Anostomidae:

Family Erythrinidae:

Family Lebiasinidae:

Family Gasteropelecidae:

Family Characidae:

    Bryconamericus
  • Bryconamericus bucayensis Roman-Valencia et al., 20131 Suroccidental
  • Bryconamericus simus (Boulenger, 1898)1 Nor y Suroccidental
    Eretmobrycon
  • Eretmobrycon brevirostris (Gunther, 1859)1 Suroccidental (Formerly Bryconamericus brevirostris)
  • Eretmobrycon dahli Roman-Valencia, 20001 (Formerly Bryconamericus dahli)
  • Eretmobrycon ecuadorensis (Román-Valencia, Ruiz-C., Taphorn B., Jimenez-Prado & Garcia-Alzate 2015)1 (Formerly Bryconamericus ecuadorensis)
  • Eretmobrycon festae (Boulenger, 1898) 7 Suroccidental (Formerly Astyanax festae)
    Roeboides
  • Roeboides occidentalis Meek & Hildebrand 19161 Noroccidental (Formally R. hildebrandi, which is now considered a synonym of R. occidentalis8)

Family Bryconidae:

Order Siluriformes:

Family Pseudopimelodidae:

    Batrochoglanis
  • Batrochoglanis transmontanus Regan, 19131 Noroccidental (formerly Pseudopimelodus)
    Microglanis
  • Microglanis variegatus Eigenmann and Henn, 19141 Occidental
  • Microglanis berbixae Tobes, Falconi-Lopez, Valdiviezo-Rivera, & Provenzano-Rizzi, 20206 Occidental

Family Heptapteridae:

    Rhamdia
  • Rhamdia cinerascens (Gunther, 1860)5 Nor y Suroccidental (formally known as Rhamdia quelen and Rhamdia wagneri. We follow Hernandez et al. (2015) for its nomenclature)

Family Cetopsidae:

    Cetopsis
  • Cetopsis amphiloxa (Eigenmann, 1914)1

Family Trichomycteridae:

Family Loricariidae:

    Chaetostoma
  • Chaetostoma bifurcum Lujan, Meza-Vargas, Astudillo-Clavijo, Barriga-Salazar & Lopez-Fernandez 20152 Occidental
  • Chaetostoma marginatum Regan, 1904. Norccidental1
  • [*Following Lujan et al., 2015c, Chaetostoma fishcheri (likely restricted to Panama) and Ch. microps (likely restricted to eastern Ecuador*) were removed]
    Hemiancistrus
  • Hemiancistrus landoni Eigenmann, 19161 Suroccidental
  • Hemiancistrus furtivus Provenzano and Barriga, 20174 Noroccidental
    Sturisomatichthys (formerly Sturisoma)
  • Sturisomatichthys frenatus (Boulenger, 1902)1 Noroccidental (formerly Sturisoma frenatum)
  • Sturisomatichthys panamense (Eigenmann and Eigenmann, 1889)1 Noroccidental (formerly Sturisoma panamense)

Family Astroblepidae:

    Astroblepus
  • Astroblepus brachycepahlus (Gunther, 1859)1
  • Astroblepus chimborazoi (Fowler, 1915)1
  • Astroblepus chotae (Regan, 1904)1
  • Astroblepus cyclopus (Humboldt, 1805)1
  • Astroblepus eigenmanni (Regan, 1904)1
  • Astroblepus fissidens (Regan, 1904)1
  • Astroblepus grixalvii (Humboldt, 1805)1
  • Astroblepus longifilis (Steindachner, 1882)1
  • Astroblepus mindoense (Regan, 1916)1
  • Astroblepus regani (Pellegrin, 1909)1
  • Astroblepus simonsii (Regan, 1904)1
  • Astroblepus theresiae (Steindachner, 1907)1
  • Astroblepus ubidiai (Pellegrin, 1931)1
  • Astroblepus whymperi (Boulenger, 1890)1 Suroccidental

Order Gymnotiformes:

Family Sternopygidae:

    Sternopygus
  • Sternopygus arenatus (Eydoux & Souleyet, 1850)1 Suroccidental
  • Sternopygus macrurus (Regan, 1903)1

Family Apteronotidae:

    Apteronotus
  • Apteronotus rostratus Meek and Hildebrand, 19131 Noroccidental

Family Hypopomidae:

    Brachyhypopomus
  • Brachyhypopomus palenque Crampton, de Santana, Waddell, and Lovejoy (2016)3 Occidental (formerly B. occidentalis)

Family Gymnotidae:

Order Salmoniformes:

Family Salmonidae:

    Salmo
  • Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758 1 (Exotic)

Order Mugiliformes:

Family Mugilidae:

Order Beloniformes:

Family Belonidae:

Order Cyprinodontiformes:

Family Poeciliidae:

    Gambusia
  • Gambusia affinis (Baird & Girard, 1853)1 Occidental
    Xiphophorus
  • Xiphophorus hellerii (Heckel, 1848)1

Order Sygnathiformes-

Family Sygnathidae:

Order Synbranchiformes-

Family Synbranchidae:

Order Perciformes:

Family Haemulidae:

Order Cichliformes:

Family Cichlidae:

    Andinoacara (formerly Aequidens)
  • Andinoacara blombergi Wijkamark, Kullander & Barriga, 20121 Noroccidental
  • Andinoacara rivulatus (Gunther, 1860)1 Suroccidental
  • Andinoacara sapayensis (Regan, 1905)1 Noroccidental
    Mesoheros (formerly Cichlasoma)
  • Mesoheros festae (Boulenger, 1899)1 Suroccidental (formerly Cichlasoma festae)
  • Mesoheros ornatus (Regan, 1905)1 Noroccidental (formerly Cichlasoma ornatum)
    Oreochromis (Exotic - tilapia)
  • Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864)1 (Exotic - tilapia)
  • Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters, 1852)1 (Exotic - tilapia)
  • Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758)1 (Exotic - tilapia)

Order Gobiiformes:

Family Eleotridae:

    Dormitator
  • Dormitator latifrons (Richardson, 1844)1 Nor y Suroccidental
  • Dormitator maculatus (Bloch, 1790)1 Noroccidental

Family Gobiidae:

    Ctenogobius
  • Ctenogobius sagittula (Gunther, 1862)1 Nor y Suroccidental
    Evermannia
  • Evermannia zosterura (Jordan & Gilbert, 1882)1
    Gobioides
  • Gobioides microdon (Gilbert, 1892)1
  • Gobioides peruanus (Steindachner, 1880)1 Suroccidental

Others/Accidentals:

Order Perciformes:

Family Centropomidae:

    Centropomus
  • Centropomus unionensis (Bocourt, 1868)X Nor y Suroccidental
  • Centropomus spp. - Other species of Centropomus (snook) enter freshwater as well

Family Sciaenidae:

Order Pleuronectiformes:

Family Soleidae:

***SOURCES:

  • 1 Jimenez et al. (2015)
  • 2 Lujan et al. (2015c)
  • 3 Crampton et al. (2016)
  • 4 Provenzano and Barriga (2017)
  • 5 Hernandez et al. (2015)
  • 6 Tobes et al. (2020)
  • 7 Terán et al. (2020)

Created and Maintained by Windsor Aguirre
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Last Updated August 8, 2020.