Alfredo Carvalho-Filho

• BSc
• Managing Director at FISH LTD

A new book about the Fishes of the Brazilian Coast, in portuguese

New book about the Fishes of the Brazilian Coast, in portuguese

The Brazilian North Coast (BNC) encompasses the intersection of multiple oceanographic features such as strong currents, a large continental shelf under the influence of the Amazon River freshwater and sediment outflow, extensive muddy and sand bottom, as well as a mesophotic reef system. As a result, the BNC hosts a diverse fish fauna, consisting...

We report the first confirmed record of the Graysby, Cephalopholis cruentata (Lacépède, 1802), from Brazilian waters, based on specimens collected at the Great Amazon Mesophotic Reef System (GAMRS), a complex environment with a consolidated bottom formed by living organisms. The new finding solves the discussion about the presence of the species in...

We report the first confirmed record of the Graysby, Cephalopholis cruentata (Lacépède, 1802), from Brazilian waters, based on specimens collected at the Great Amazon Mesophotic Reef System (GAMRS), a complex environment with a consolidated bottom formed by living organisms. The new finding solves the discussion about the presence of the species in...

Fui convidado a fazer uma apreciação sobre este livro planejado para a identificação dos peixes teleósteos marinhos encontrados na costa da Paraíba, cujos autores tenho a satisfação de conhecer há muitos anos. De início, surpreende o elevado número de espécies constantes desse levantamento em uma extensão comparativamente pequena da costa brasilei...

Centropristes fusculus Poey, 1861 historically has variously and somewhat perplexingly been assigned to Centropristis Cuvier, 1829, Prionodes Jenyns, 1840, and Serranus Cuvier, 1816. Here, we provide evidence from comparisons of morphology, ecology, and sexual systems for its inclusion in Serranus and redescribe the species based on the holotype an...

The book "Fishes of the Brazilian coast" by Alfredo Carvalho-Filho is an outstanding achievement and a clear demonstration of the author's far-reaching knowledge of marine fishes. The book is the offspring of three previous editions in Portuguese ("Peixes, Costa Brasileira"), the first of which was criticized by a few Brazilian ichthyologists. Carv...

Tetraodontidae is the most speciose family of Tetraodontiformes and is represented by fish popularly known as pufferfishes. They are characterized by modified jaws with four dental plates and the ability to inflate their bodies. Tetraodontids are distributed throughout the world and have a wide range of habitat use. One of its genera, Sphoeroides,...

The Reef Fishes from Brazil

An adult specimen of Euleptorhamphus velox (Hemiramphidae) was captured in March 2021 from southern Brazil (26ºS). This record altogether with vouchers deposited in museum collections (MZUSP and MCZ), extends the published known distribution area of the species in about 3700 km in the southwestern Atlantic.

Artisanal fisheries in center-southern Chile targeted a large amount of southern ray bream (Brama australis), whereas other species of Bramidae are negligible in the catches. During a small-scale fishing trip targeting B. australis off the coast of Lebu Harbour (38ºS) in August 2021, two specimens of other Bramidae species were also caught, but the...

Recently, different studies have revealed the existence of complexes of marine fish species of several genera from the Western Atlantic (e.g., Bagre, Peprilus, Bairdiella, Pogonias and Menticirrhus), with a correspondence between recognized species and well-established geographic areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Brazil, showing...

Quando se fala em ictiologia no Brasil, a primeira coisa que nos vem mente a bacia do rio Amazonas que, sem d vida, cont m a ictiofauna mais diversificada do mundo. Essa simples lembran a geralmente leva a maioria dos jovens icti logos brasileiros a estudar peixes de gua doce, enquanto a fauna de peixes marinhos recebe aten o relativamente menor. I...

The North Coast of Brazil is a biogeographical area of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Brazil that share environmental features with region under influence of the Plume of the rio Amazon and Orinoco. Despite the relevance of the region's fish fauna, in biogeo-graphic, ecologic, and commercial terms, this area is poorly known. This study presents the...

Five new species of Stellifer are described from the Caribbean Sea and tropical southwestern Atlantic. Among the previously recognized stelliferine genera, Stellifer is unique by having a pair of variably developed appendages on the posterior margin of the anterior gas chamber, which is lacking in Bairdiella, Corvula, Elattarchus, Odontoscion and O...

The hapuku wreckfish Polyprion oxygeneios is recorded for the first time in Argentinian waters. Four specimens were caught off Mar del Plata (38°S, Argentina) in depths between 60 and 260 m during austral summer (three by sport fishers and one in a research cruise). Up to the present, this species was consistently misidentified with its congener, t...

Data on the deep sea fishes found off the northern Brazilian coast are restricted to the results of the surveys of the RV Oregon, a research vessel of the North American National Marine Fisheries Service, and the REVIZEE Program. The REVIZEE Score-Norte Program focused on commercial fish species and natural resources with potential for exploitation...

Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Archipelago (SPSPA), one of the smallest and most isolated island groups in the world, is situated on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, between Brazil and the African continent. SPSPA has low species richness and high endemism; nonetheless, the diversity of fishes from deep habitats (>30 m depth) had not been previously studied i...

The labrisomid genus Malacoctenus from Southwestern Atlantic is reviewed. Two new species of scaly blennies formerly reported by several authors as Malacoctenus triangulatus are described. One is found at the oceanic islands Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Atol das Rocas, and the other is distributed along the Brazilian coastline. The two new s...

A pictorial Catalog of Fishes larger than 40 cm that occur in Brazilian marine waters, with cientifica and common names, diagnosis, size, habitat, and commercial and occurrence data. In Portuguese.

The poorly known morid Laemonema robustum Johnson, 1862, is reported for the first time from Brazilian marine waters. Morphometric characters are compared with published works and selected vouchers. The known Atlantic Ocean range of the species is extended to the Southwestern Atlantic, thousands of kilometers from previous records. Citation: Carval...

Centropomus irae sp. nov. (Centropomidae) is described from two localities in the state of Amapá, northern Brazil. The new species differs from all its congeners by the typically brown-colored lateral line, the relatively smaller mean interorbital width (4.1% of SL vs. 5.2–6.9%), mean snout length (8.9% of SL vs. 9.8–11.1%), mean diameter of the or...

Three valid species of the genus Physiculus are known from the Brazilian marinewaters. A fourth, new species, Physiculus cirm n. sp.., is described based on seventeen specimens collected in the surroundings of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, equatorial Atlantic. A review of the Brazilian species of Physiculus is provided, as well as a key t...

Se presentan los primeros registros documentados de la morena reticulada Muraena retifera Goode & Bean, 1882 y la morena ocelada Gymnothorax ocellatus Agassiz, 1831 para Uruguay y Argentina, respectivamente. Ambos registros se basan en capturas de pesca recreacional y representan extensiones geográficas hacia el sur significativas para estas especi...

Recent studies reported the introduction of non-native species on the Brazilian coast. In this contribution, we provide the first record of Cephalopholis taeniops (Valenciennes 1828) in the western South Atlantic, based on a specimen captured off the Ilhas Cagarras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and discuss the potential agents for its introduction. Whil...

The objective of this study was to report all fish species caught by shrimp trawlers based in Pirambu, in the state of Sergipe, Brazil and estimate the length-weight relation (LWR) for the most abundant species in the samples. Four samples were collected monthly from four shrimp trawlers. A total of 8522 fishes were caught (89 species; 38 families)...

The present study reports on the first records of the bythitid Redfin Brotula, Petrotyx sanguineus (Meek & Hildebrand, 1928), in the western South Atlantic, based on 7 specimens (50.8-152.8 mm SL) from 5 localities along the northeastern coast of Brazil: (1) Praia de Maracaípe, Ipojuca and (2) Praia de Tamandaré, Tamandaré, in Pernambuco state; and...

Phylogenies based on morphological and molecular data confirm the monophyly of the subfamily Stelliferinae; however, there is no consensus on the intergeneric and interspecific relationships in the group. Previous studies suggested the non-monophyly of Ophioscion and Stellifer, and possible cryptic species in Ophioscion punctatissimus. Therefore, w...

An updated and annotated checklist of the endemic reef fishes of the tropical and sub-tropical southwestern Atlantic

Aim To present an updated database of fish species recorded on south‐western Atlantic reef environments and to explore the ecological drivers of the structure, the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity and the centre of endemism in this peripheral province. Location South‐western Atlantic ( SWA ): Brazilian and Argentinian Provinces. Methods A dat...

Occurrence of multiple whitetip reef sharks Triaenodon obesus in the Atlantic Ocean is reported for the first time from near a sunken ferry off the Paraná coast in south-eastern Brazil. This occurrence is hypothesized to have been caused by either a human introduction or a remarkably long oceanic displacement.

Anthias asperilinguis was described in 1859 from a single specimen collected from an unspecified locality off the Atlantic coast of South America and subsequently reported from the coasts of Venezuela, the Guianas, and northeastern Brazil. More recently, examination of specimens obtained from St. Paul's Rocks (in the central equatorial Atlantic wel...

Two species of different families belonging to the order Anguilliformes have their ranges extended in the southwestern Atlantic: the chlopsid Chlopsis dentatus (Seale, 1917) from Rio de Janeiro and the muraenid Gymnothorax maderensis (Johnson, 1862) from Bahia. The new records extend the distribution of these species south along the Brazilian coast...

Two species of different families belonging to the order Anguilliformes have their ranges extended in the southwestern Atlantic: the chlopsid Chlopsis dentatus (Seale, 1917) from Rio de Janeiro and the muraenid Gymnothorax maderensis (Johnson, 1862) from Bahia. The new records extend the distribution of these species south along the Brazilian coast...

The Paiva’s blenny Lupinoblennius paivai is redescribed and its range redefined along the Brazilian coast. It differs from its congeners by the presence of three cephalic pores between the dorsal-fin base and lateral line, dorsal-fin elements XII, 12, anal-fin elements II, 16, pectoral-fin rays 14 and 10+20 vertebrae. It is here reported from Amazo...

The high diversity and distribution of Bathygobius Bleeker, 1878 makes it an excellent group to study evolution patterns within the Atlantic. Thus, the aims of this work were to investigate the taxonomic status, geographical distribution and evolutionary history of Bathygobius in the Atlantic and to examine the genetic structure and demographic and...

A new species of Anthiadinae, Odontanthias cauoh, is described from São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago (SPSPA), Brazil, Equatorial Atlantic. The new species differs from its only Atlantic congener by a combination of several characters: pectoral-fin rays 20; total gill rakers on first arch 39; vomerine tooth patch with a posterior prolongation; pe...

Fishes inhabiting rhodolith beds and reefs at mesophotic depths on the Abrolhos Shelf, which encompasses the largest and richest coral reef formation in the South Atlantic Ocean, were assessed through technical diving and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). A total of 74 fish species were recorded, including at least one new species, one new record...

We present a checklist of 278 species of reef fishes recorded along the coastline of Santa Catarina state, the southernmost limit of distribution of tropical ichthyofauna on the coast of Brazil. Twelve new species records for this state are presented: Acanthurus coeruleus, Acanthurus monroviae, Apogon americanus, Cantherhines macrocerus, Chaetodon...

PLoS ONE - Supporting Information - Accepted: December 2014 Fish biodiversity of the Vitória-Trindade Seamount Chain, southwestern Atlantic: an updated database. Below is an annotated checklist of the fishes known to occur at VTC. Orders and families follow Nelson [1], Epinephelidae follows Craig & Hastings [2] and Craig et al. [3], and Labridae f...

Despite a strong increase in research on seamounts and oceanic islands ecology and biogeography, many basic aspects of their biodiversity are still unknown. In the southwestern Atlantic, the Vitória-Trindade Seamount Chain (VTC) extends ca. 1,200 km offshore the Brazilian continental shelf, from the Vitória seamount to the oceanic islands of Trinda...

Serranus aliceae n. sp. is described from Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo States, southeastern Brazilian coast. The species is readily distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: scales around the caudal peduncle 20 or 21; total gill rakers on first branchial arch 23-29; cheek-scales rows 5 or 6; and by the colora...

Serranus aliceae n. sp. is described from Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo States, southeastern Brazilian coast. The species is readily distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: scales around the caudal peduncle 20 or 21; total gill rakers on first branchial arch 23-29; cheek-scales rows 5 or 6; and by the colora...

Global biodiversity declines and increasing rates of extinction necessitate the assessment and prediction of the vulnerability of species to extinction. Here, we examine the relationships between conservation status and ecological traits of reef fish species of the Brazilian biogeographical province. We used binomial tests and a logistic regression...

Grammicolepis brachiusculus, commonly known as Thorny tinselfish, was previously cited from Brazilian waters, but not thoroughly documented. Here we report about a new record of this species, based on three voucher specimens, 169.2–196.3 mm SL, collected off Bahia, Brazil. This report extends the range of the species southwards for a distance of ab...

The rare ophichthid eel Asarcenchelys longimanus is reported for the first time from Bahia State, north-eastern Brazil. To date, only two specimens of A. longimanus, the holotype and a paratype, were known. The new finding extends its distribution to about 2400 km southwards along the Brazilian coastline and provides a new maximum size for the spec...

The occurrence of the merluccid Macruronus novaezelandiae from tropical waters off Bahia, eastern Brazil, is reported for the first time due to the capture of an adult of 712.3 mm standard length in May 2008, from a depth of 400 m. Until then no specimen had been reported north of 32°29′S on the South American Atlantic coast. This new record extend...

Many reef fish use non-reef habitats (e.g. mangroves, estuaries, and seagrass/algae beds) during their life cycle. In this study we determined how many, and which percentage of Brazilian reef fish species that make use of non-reef habitats are considered threatened (i.e. red-listed) and/or targeted by fisheries. We compiled data for 559 reef fish s...

This is the third in a series of reports describing new or rare records caught with circle hooks, a method only recently being employed in exploratory fishing in Brazilian deep waters. Here we report the presence of one family and two species of perciform fishes new to, or never formerly reported from, Brazilian waters: the longfin escolar, Scombro...

In this second paper dedicated to report on deep-sea fishes from Brazilian waters, mainly from Bahia, the presence of one family and three species of Aulopoidei is reported for the first time from Brazilian waters: the aulopid Aulopus filamentosus (royal flagfin), the synodontids Saurida normani and Synodus poeyi (shortjaw lizardfish and offshore l...

The American sciaenid genus Macrodon presently consists of only two species, the Atlantic Macrodon ancylodon (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), and the Pacific Macrodon mordax (Gilbert & Starks, 1904). The two species are distinguished mainly by the number of pored scales on the lateral line (66-78 in M. ancylodon vs. 45-55 in M. mordax). The present study...

The American sciaenid genus Macrodon presently consists of only two species, the Atlantic Macrodon ancylodon (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), and the Pacific Macrodon mordax (Gilbert & Starks, 1904). The two species are distinguished mainly by the number of pored scales on the lateral line (66–78 in M. ancylodon vs. 45–55 in M. mordax). The present study...

We present a list with 10 new records of reef fish on the coast of Santa Catarina State, the southernmost site of tropical reef fish occurrence on the Brazilian coast. We also comment on the distribution-range of the recently described Halichoeres sazimai (Labridae).

This is the first in a series of reports describing new records caught with circle hooks, a method only now being employed in exploratory fishing in Brazilian deep waters. Several new records of deep-water fishes were obtained with this equipment. In this paper we record for the first time the occurrence of two genera and species of Bramidae in Bra...

This is the first in a series of reports describing new records caught with circle hooks, a method only now being employed in exploratory fishing in Brazilian deep waters. Several new records of deep-water fishes were obtained with this equipment. In this paper we record for the first time the occurrence of two genera and species of Bramidae in Bra...

A population of Pronotogrammus martinicensis (Guichenot, 1868) is described and recognized as a unique shallow-water variation of the species from the Brazilian South-Eastern coast, based on genetic, morphologic and ecological data. It is distinguished from the deep water population by its smaller eye, longer snout, shorter pectoral-fin, color of t...

The tripletail or blackfish (Lobotes surinamensis, Lobotidae) is recorded for the first time from an oceanic island in the South Atlantic, based on two individuals sighted and photographed near a buoy at Fernando de Noronha Island, off north-eastern Brazil.

The geographical distribution of the pipefish Anarchopterus tectus in the western South Atlantic is clarified based on three museum specimens and an underwater photograph. The known range for this reef pipefish is extended by ~4000 km southwards in a straight line and by ~5500 km of coastline.

A new species of scaly blenny, Labrisomus conditus sp. n., is described from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, off northeastern Brazil. It differs from its Western Atlantic congeners by the following combination of characters: nuchal cirri when depressed not reaching dorsal-fin origin, 68 to 73 lateral line scales, first and second dorsal-fin spines...

A new species of scaly blenny, Labrisomus conditus sp. n., is described from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, off northeastern Brazil. It differs from its Western Atlantic congeners by the following combination of characters: nuchal cirri when depressed not reaching dorsal-fin origin, 68 to 73 lateral line scales, first and second dorsal-fin spines...

The richness of common names of Brazilian reef fishes is high (7.2 names per species) and mostly so if the species are commercially important. The high richness of names for easily seen species such as reef fishes represents one of the Berlin's attributes leading to the naming process of living things. The attribute 'size' was also tested and indic...

The richness of common names of Brazilian reef fishes is high (7.2 names per species) and mostly so if the species are commercially important. The high richness of names for easily seen species such as reef fishes represents one of the Berlin's attributes leading to the naming process of living things. The attribute 'size' was also tested and indic...

FIGURE 3 The Tropical Pomfret becomes a daily catch off Bahia, Northeast Brazil.

FIGURE 4 - A. The smallest Eumegistus brevorti specimen, TAMAR 0 0 35 (394 mm SL), showing white-tipped dorsal and anal fins lobes and caudal fin with black central rays, caught at the Praia do Forte, off Bahia, Northeast Brazil.

FIGURE 4 - B. Young adult, about 23 cm SL, of Eumegistus illustris from the Pacific Ocean, showing the same whitetipped dorsal and anal fin lobes and caudal fin with black central rays as the Atlantic species, and the rows of keeled scales on caudal peduncle. Photograph by NMFS Pacific Islands Region Observer Program, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

FIGURE 5. Stomach contents of Eumegistus brevorti caught off Bahia, Northeast Brazil: 1. Crustacea, Stomatopoda, Squillidae. 2. Crustacea, Decapoda, Pandalidae.

FIGURE 12. Graphic representation of percentage of the longest dorsal fin ray in standard length compared to size of each specimen. Pterycombus brama (blue dots), Pterycombus petersii (red triangles), and specimens not positively identified (blue and red squares). See also Table 4.

FIGURE 13. Pteraclis aesticola MZUSP 61590, 59.7 mm SL.

FIGURE 15. Pterycombus petersii MZUSP 61586, 65.2 mm SL.

FIGURE 16. Pterycombus brama MZUSP 61623, 84.2 mm SL.