Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes

PHYLOGENY AND CLASSIFICATION OF NEOTROPICAL FISHES. Luiz R. Malabarba, Roberto E. Reis, Richard P. Vari, Zilda Margarete S. Lucena, and Carlos Alberto S. Lucena (eds.). 1998. EDIPURUS, Porto Alegre, Brazil. ISBN 85-7430-035-7. (ii) + 603 p. R$76 [Hardcover, postage extra. Price set only in Brazilian Reais, approximately US$40 in September 1999. Books available internationally from the following book dealers in Brazil: Livraria Saraiva (www.livrariasaraiva.com.br) or Livraria Loyola (www.livloyola.com.br/livraria)].—In the decades that surrounded the beginning of the 20th century, studies of the fishes of the Neotropical region flourished. By the end of the first decade of that century, treatises on most major taxonomic groups of freshwater fishes of South and Central America had been published (e.g., catfishes, by Eigenmann and Eigenmann, 1890, and Regan, 1904; cichlids, by Eigenmann and Bray, 1894, and Pellegrin, 1904; and gymnotoids, by Eigenmann and Ward, 1905), or were in preparation (characoids, by Eigenmann and coauthors). Comparably ambitious faunal catalogs of the fishes South America (Eigenmann and Eigenmann, 1891), Central America (Eigenmann, 1893) and Mexico (Meek, 1904) were also undertaken during this same period. Eigenmann (1910) synthesized the accumulated information into a comprehensive catalog of the freshwater fishes south of the Río Panuco, Mexico, which has since served as a benchmark of our knowledge of the diversity of Neotropical fishes.

Now, as another century begins, we have what must be considered a new benchmark for Neotropical ichthyology in the Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes. This volume is a collection of papers that were first presented as contributions to a symposium held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1997. The contributions consist of 29 papers written by a total of 39 authors. The volume is arranged as a series of overview papers for each major taxonomic group represented in the Neotropics, followed by one or more contributions to the systematics of a part of that taxon. These taxonomic treatments are preceded by a general overview of Neotropical ichthyology and a series of papers that summarize the geological and paleontological history of South America, as it relates to fishes, and are followed by a brief overview of the literature on cytogenetic studies of Neotropical fishes. All papers are in English (the general overview is also in Portuguese), with both English and Portuguese abstracts.

The taxonomic overview papers provide an introduction and literature review to the history and current status of the systematics of the covered group. Collectively, these papers provide an excellent introduction to the biodiversity of Neotropical fishes. Some of these overviews go beyond the traditional bounds of review papers by providing new information or new analyses of the available data. A few examples of these extended reviews are worth mentioning here. Mario de Pinna's overview of the Siluriformes examines the phylogenetic positions of some unresolved or controversial catfish taxa, including Phreatobius and Hypophthalmus, and provides convincing evidence for their relationships. Sven Kullander's review of the Cichlidae provides a phylogenetic hypothesis and new classification on characters gleaned primarily from character information found in literature he reviewed. Ricardo Campos-da-Paz and James Albert provide an extensive literature review of the gymnotiform classification, which is followed by a second paper (in reverse authorship) of a phylogenetic analysis of the group.

Complementing the overviews is a series of papers that focus on diverse questions of relationships of Neotropical fishes. Each of these papers stands on its own merits, not unlike contributions to Copeia. The taxa covered reflect current interests of the participants and range in scope from interfamilial studies (e.g., Wilson Costa's examinations of cyprinodontiform family relationships), to the study of the monophyly and relationships of the characid genus Creagrutus, by Richard Vari and Tony Harold. Most of the phylogenetic analyses that form the bases of these papers were undertaken on a variety of morphological characters (the most unusual of which is sperm ultrastructure, by John Burns and coauthors). Reflecting current trends in phylogenetic analysis, molecular data were used to examine a number of problems, among which were José Alves-Gomes's study of the position of the electric knifefish genera Sternopygus and Archolaemus, and a phylogenetic study of two large clades within the Cichlidae (by Izeni Farias, Horacio Schneider, and Iracilda Sampaio).

The inclusion in this volume of both review articles and contributions to the primary scientific literature is an interesting combination but one that comes with a price. Conclusions reached in a review article often differ from those found in one or more of the other contributions. The most noteworthy of these disagreements revolves around the various contributions to the phylogeny of characiform fishes and the nature of the resulting classification. Such problems are not unique to students of Neotropical fishes, and to be sure, the conflicting results and interpretations represent the nature of the discipline. To the editors' credit, such disagreements are openly acknowledged in the relevant papers by cross-references to opposing statements that are found elsewhere in the volume.

Editing and production of the volume must have been a daunting task. The results indicate that the editors were concerned with maintaining a consistent style across contributions. Errors are remarkably scarce and, when found, are usually easily corrected. For example, the caption for figure 9 on page 205 identifies the illustration as maxillary teeth, whereas the associated text clearly indicates that the illustration is that of premaxillary teeth. One noteworthy error is found on the bottom of the first column of page 465, where some text was apparently deleted from the sentence that bridges the two columns. It is not clear how much text was lost or the significance of the missing words. In an otherwise well-produced book, I must note one concern. In each of the four copies I examined, the pages were unevenly sewn together, leaving at least one signature extending out from the spine. I believe that, with even moderate use, the stitching will fail to keep the book together. This is most likely to be a problem with library and laboratory copies, and it may require that the books be rebound soon.

The editors, authors, and publisher should be justifiably proud of this book. Not only does it provide its readers with an excellent summary of the current state of the systematics of Neotropical fishes, but it also points to interesting and noteworthy problems that should occupy ichthyologists well into the future. And, I can think of no better way to judge the future of systematic ichthyology in the Neotropical world than to point to the cadre of young ichthyologists that contributed to the production of this book and conclude that the field is in the best of all possible hands.