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Introduction
My research interests center around systematics, taxonomy and ecology of fishes, both freshwater and marine, from the Neotropics. You can follow our research on Instagram @ictio_cr.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
March 2015 - March 2019
January 2012 - April 2014
Position
- Professor
Description
- Tropical Ecology/Ecología Tropical - SH260 (2012 to 2014)
November 2014 - March 2020
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), University of Costa Rica
Position
- Research Associate
Education
March 2015 - March 2019
March 2010 - November 2014
March 2005 - November 2009
Publications
Publications (82)
Introducción:
El conocimiento sobre la composición taxonómica de la fauna de peces de agua dulce de Costa Rica ha cambiado sustancialmente en las últimas dos décadas. No solamente por la adición de nuevas especies y táxones supra-específicos, sino también por reordenamientos y cambios taxonómicos en los diferentes niveles jerárquicos. Las claves ta...
The knowledge of the Costa Rican freshwater fish fauna continues to grow given the discovery of new taxa, the recognition of taxa resurrected from synonymy and the corroboration of new country records and new range extensions. Moreover, recent advances in the understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and status of many supraspecific groups ha...
Based on a combination of intensive literature review, electronic database searches, re-identification of museum specimens, and fieldwork, we provide an updated checklist of the continental fishes of Nicaragua. This checklist, systematically
arranged at the ordinal and familial level, includes nomenclatural revisions, distributional information, co...
A new highly troglomorphic and diminutive swamp eel inhabiting muddy subsoil in remnants of a tropical rainforest in the Caribbean versant of Costa Rica is described. Comparative anatomical and mitogenomic data support the distinctiveness of the new species and its placement in the genus Ophisternon. The new species is unique among Neotropical cong...
The tropical eastern Pacific (TEP) is a biogeographic region with a substantial set of isolated oceanic islands and mainland shoreline habitat barriers, as well as complex oceanographic dynamics due to major ocean currents, upwelling areas, eddies, and thermal instabilities. These characteristics have shaped spatial patterns of biodiversity between...
Dedicated ichthyological surveys in two karstic caves in Costa Rica resulted in the discovery of hypogean populations from three epigean species of catfishes of the genus Rhamdia. The taxonomic identity of these populations was initially determined based on morphological traits and subsequently corroborated with comparative DNA sequence data in a p...
A new species of bothriocephalid cestode in the genus Anantrum is described from the intestine of the shorthead lizardfish Synodus scituliceps from the north Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The new species is described based on an integrative taxonomic approach that includes the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, 28S rDNA sequencing, and p...
The Tropical Indo-Pacific (TIP) includes about two thirds of the world's tropical oceans and harbors an enormous number of marine species. The distributions of those species within the region is affected by habitat discontinuities and oceanographic features. As well as many smaller ones, the TIP contains seven large recognized biogeographic barrier...
n 1973, a specimen of the deep‑sea anglerfish Ceratias uranoscopus Murray, 1877 was collected at a depth of 1000 m off the Pacific coast of Panama. This specimen represents (1) the first verified occurrence record of this species and genus in the Tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean and (2) an extension of about 7000 km east on this species’ previously k...
A new species of trematode of anaporrhutine gorgoderid, from the gill chambers of the Munda round ray Urotrygon munda in Costa Rica is described, based on an integrative taxonomic approach that includes the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, ITS2 and 28S rDNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis. Anaporrhutum mundae sp. nov. can be dis...
Stelliferinae is the third most speciose subfamily of Sciaenidae, with 51 recognized species arranged in five genera. Phylogenies derived from both morphological and molecular data support the monophyly of this subfamily, although there is no general consensus on the intergeneric relationships or the species diversity of this group. We used the bar...
The tropical eastern Pacific (TEP) has been divided into several biogeographic provinces separated by two types of habitat gaps: stretches of sandy shoreline that separate rocky reefs on the mainland (Sinaloan and Central American gaps) and expanses of deep ocean between offshore TEP islands and the mainland. Those gaps are known to influence the d...
As global biodiversity declines continue, conservation efforts are increasingly important in megadiverse areas such as the Neotropics where biodiversity is especially imperiled. The accurate identification of specimens is critical to successful conservation plans. However, in groups such as freshwater fishes, different identification methodologies...
The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large‐scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southe...
There are two endemic species of Cichlidae in southern Central America, both found in the Pacific Slope of Eastern Panama (PSEP). One is Isthmoheros tuyrensis, which until now was presumed to be distributed in the Darien Province and the Bayano River basin. Information on distribution and ecology of I. tuyrensis is relatively scarce. In this invest...
Microphilypnus and Leptophilypnion are miniaturized genera within the family Eleotridae. The evolutionary relationships among these taxa are still poorly understood, and molecular analyses are restricted to mitochondrial genes, which have not been conclusive. We compiled both mitochondrial and nuclear genes to study the phylogenetic position of Mic...
Central America contains a rich diversity of freshwater habitats that support more than 600 species of freshwater fishes. However, despite several perceived threats to the integrity of the freshwater habitats throughout the region, a formal analysis of extinction risk for the region’s ichthyofauna is lacking. In this manuscript, we report an update...
Central America contains a rich diversity of freshwater habitats that support more than 600 species of freshwater fishes. However, despite several perceived threats to the integrity of the freshwater habitats throughout the region, a formal analysis of extinction risk for the region’s ichthyofauna is lacking. In this manuscript, we report an update...
In this work we evaluate possible associations between echinoderms and fish of the Carapidae family, through sampling at the North Pacific of Costa Rica. We report the occurrence of a symbiotic association between Carapus mourlani and three new host echinoderm species. We raised and discussed some ecological implications regarding such relationship...
In this paper we report the rediscovery of the endangered cichlid fish Amphilophus lyonsi (Gosse 1966) in the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica. Additionally, we provide new and updated information on the morphology, growth, habitat use and distribution of the species based on data and specimens recently collected as well as on museum material....
Introducción: Los cíclidos (Cichlidae, Cichliformes) constituyen una de las familias de peces dulceacuícolas más diversas en el planeta. En Costa Rica cerca de un 10% del total de las especies conocidas pertenecen a este grupo. Objetivo: Proveer, a aquellas personas interesadas (i.e., estudiantes, académicos, investigadores, aficionados y otros), i...
We herein describe the complete mitochondrial genome of Paralonchurus dumerilii (Sciaenidae) and infer its phylogenetic position within the family. The genome is 16,498 bp long and featured by 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a control region (D-loop). Our phylogenetic analysis suggests a basal position of P. dumerilii as th...
The Panamic Clingfish Gobiesox adustus is widely distributed in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP), from the central Gulf of California, Mexico to Ecuador, including the oceanic Revillagigedo Archipelago, and Isla del Coco. This cryptobenthic species is restricted to very shallow rocky-reef habitats. Here, we used one mitochondrial and three nuclea...
Microphilypnus and Leptophilypnion are miniaturized genera within the family Eleotridae. The evolutionary relationships among these taxa are still poorly understood and molecular analyses are restricted to mitochondrial genes, which have not been conclusive. We compiled both mitochondrial and nuclear genes in order to study the phylogenetic positio...
Anelasma squalicola is a parasitic barnacle of members of the deep-water shark families Etmopteridae, Pentanchidae and Scyliorhinidae. We report the first published confirmation of this species in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, based on material collected off Costa Rica, its first record as a parasite of the Ninja lantern shark, Etmopterus benchley (Et...
Material suplementario (Angulo et al., 2021: Ictiofauna de la zona intermareal rocosa del Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica: diversidad y aspectos ecológicos y biogeográficos): Lista de especies ícticas (presencia=1/ausencia=0), según órden y familia, asociadas a la zona de intermareal rocoso en un total de 21 localidade...
Introducción:
El intermareal rocoso constituye un paisaje marino costero dominante en el Pacífico Tropical Oriental, albergando comunidades biológicas altamente diversas y funcionalmente complejas. El conocimiento sobre la diversidad y los diversos procesos biológicos que ocurren en tales ambientes es, no obstante, bastante limitado a escala region...
Introduction:
The family Carapidae includes about 40 species of marine fishes distributed in coastal habitats worldwide. The family includes some free-living species, however, most of them are found as commensal inquilines or parasites of marine invertebrates, including several echinoderm species. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the biology and ho...
Marine species that are widely distributed in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) has served as a model for studying biogeographic patterns resulting from the effects of intraregional habitat discontinuities and oceanographic processes on the diversification and evolution of cryptobenthic reef fishes. Tomicodon petersii, a clingfish (Gobiesocidae) e...
Introducción: El intermareal rocoso constituye un paisaje marino costero dominante en el Pacífico Tropical Oriental, albergando comunidades biológicas altamente diversas y funcionalmente complejas. El conocimiento sobre la diversidad y los diversos procesos biológicos que ocurren en tales ambientes es, no obstante, bastante limitado a escala region...
Introduction: The family Carapidae includes about 40 species of marine fishes distributed in coastal habitats worldwide. The family includes some free-living species, however, most of them are found as commensal inquilines or parasites of marine invertebrates, including several echinoderm species. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific, the biology and ho...
Haemulon sexfasciatum es una especie de importancia ecológica y pesquera, ampliamente distribuida en el Pacífico Oriental Tropical. En la presente contribución reportamos un nuevo registro de talla para esta especie, con base en un ejemplar capturado en Bahía Culebra, Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica, en setiembre de 2020, así como datos morfométricos...
Introducción:
El xantismo o xantocromismo es una anomalía fenotípica que se evidencia por la producción predominante de xantina, un pigmento que le da al organismo una coloración amarillenta. En Costa Rica existen pocos registros de organismos con esa anomalía en ambientes naturales.
Objetivo:
Presentar casos de xantismo en peces cíclidos de Costa...
During a recreational fishing trip on May 2017 to Isla Montuosa, Pacific coast of Panama (7.467472,-82.266556; 30 m depth), a specimen belonging to the genus Caranx was captured. The specimen showed an unusual combination of external characters, intermediate among the species known to occur in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP), which caught the at...
The checklist by Robertson et al. (2017) of fishes from the tropical eastern Pacific included information on three members of the family Triglidae: Bellator loxias (Jordan, 1897), Prionotus ruscarius and P. stephanophrys Lockington, 1881. Unfortunately, the identification of four specimens as P. ruscarius is incorrect, as they are Bellator gymnoste...
The Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) is a dynamic coastal environment characterized by a complex system of oceanic processes and discontinuous rocky habitats. These features, in conjunction with the ecological and physiological characteristics of Anisotremus interruptus , might limit gene flow and shape the evolutionary history of the species. In thi...
Introduction:
Isla del Coco is an important protected area for marine fauna in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In this area, the species that inhabit the intertidal zone have been subject to few studies. One of the species inhabiting these areas is the clingfish Gobiesox adustus (Gobiesocidae).
Objective:
To analyze for the first time the mitochondr...
A checklist of the fishes of the Coto River basin, southern Pacific, Costa Rica, compiled from field and museum surveys is presented. A total of 61 species, representing 48 genera, 26 families and 11 orders are listed. Peripheral species were dominant (44.3%), whereas secondary and primary freshwater species represented 32.8% and 23.9% of the total...
The opening of the Panama Canal ~ 100 years ago created a migration pathway between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean for euryhaline marine organisms that can cope with passage through 65 km of freshwater. The Atlantic Tarpon, Megalops atlanticus, a prized recreational-fishery species in its native geographic range, where it is considered “Vu...
The ichthyology collection at the Natural History Museum of El Salvador (MUHNES) was established in 1970. Herein, we provide the first quantitative and qualitative description of the collection; and the first public record of the specimens and taxa therein represented. The MUHNES fish collection is the largest and most important of El Salvador, hos...
Habitat discontinuities, temperature gradients, upwelling systems, and ocean currents, gyres and fronts, can affect distributions of species with narrow environmental tolerance or motility and influence the dispersal of pelagic larvae, with effects ranging from the isolation of adjacent populations to connections between them. The coast of the Trop...
The highfin goby Gobionelus oceanicus is herein reported for the first time in freshwaters of Costa Rica. One specimen was collected in the lower Pacuare River basin, Atlantic slope, Costa Rica. This new record brings the total number of Costa Rican native freshwater fish species to 253.
Trichomycterus striatus is herein redescribed, based on examination of the types and recently collected specimens, and its geographic distribution is updated. This species can be diagnosed from all other northeastern South American congeners by its variable coloration pattern consisting of a yellowish to light brown background with a black lateral...
Astyanax anai, a new species of characid fish, is described from the Sixaola River basin, eastern Costa Rica–western Panama, Central America. The new species can be distinguished from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: premaxillary teeth 4–5 at the inner series and 4–6 at the outer series; maxillary teeth tricuspid, 2–4...
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...
Understanding key aspects of the biology and ecology of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimeras), as well as the range of threats affecting their populations is crucial given the rapid rate at which some species are declining. In the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), the lack of knowledge, unreliable (or non-existent) landing statistics, an...
There are 99 chondrichthyan species formally recorded in the literature and/or with voucher specimens collected within Costa Rican waters. These species are grouped in 2 subclasses (Holocephali and Elasmobranchii), 12 orders, 34 families, and 50 genera. This checklist includes data for a total of 87 and 24 species formally recorded in Costa Rican P...
An annotated and photographically illustrated checklist with DNA barcodes of the species of bony fishes collected during a month-long research cruise of the Spanish Research vessel B/O Miguel Oliver is presented. The vessel made trawls on the continental shelf of the Pacific coast of Central America, in November-December 2010, at depths of 108–1625...
The Tirimbina Biological Reserve (TBR), located in La Virgen de Sarapiquí, Heredia Province, Atlantic versant (Sarapiquí river basin), Costa Rica, is a private wildlife refuge established as “a place of absolute conservation” and for
scientific research. An annotated and illustrated catalog of the fish species known to occur within the limits of th...
The gross morphology of the brain of Rineloricaria heteroptera and its relation to the sensory/behavioural ecology of the species is described and discussed. The sexual and ontogenetic intraspecific variation in the whole brain length and mass, as well as within/between the eight different brain subdivisions volumes, is also examined and discussed....
An annotated catalog of the type specimens deposited at the fish collection of the “Universidade Estadual Paulista, Câmpus de São José do Rio Preto”, São Paulo, Brazil (DZSJRP), is herein presented for consultation and scientific information. The type fish collection of the DZSJRP is comprised by 154 lots and 4,993 specimens, 18 of which are holoty...
New records of occurrence for four species of lampriform fishes (Teleostei: Lampriformes; Desmodema polystictum, Regalecus russelii, Trachipterus fukuzakii and Zu cristatus) poorly known or previously unknown for the Pacific coast of lower Central America (Costa Rica-Panama) are herein reported. Museum specimens supporting such records are characte...
Species with wide geographic distributions can consist of different lineages or even different species. The present study evaluated the molecular diversity of the family Eleotridae analyzing sequences of the COI gene from species collected in different locations in the Neotropical as well as sequences from BOLD and GenBank. The analysis revealed th...
This note reports four specimens of the damselfish Stegastes flavilatus, captured in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, with an abnormal coloration pattern. We herein compare morphologically these specimens with “normal” specimens of S. flavilatus and other sympatric congener.
Many biodiversity databases have been launched in recent years. Various species of certain developed taxa, such as fish, quadrupeds, and butterflies, are currently able to be photographically identified, in particular for ecological and biogeographic studies. However, there are problems that result from registration of images from countries with di...
Se presenta a continuación el primer catálogo de material tipo depositado en la colección ictiológica del Museo de Zoología de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR). Esta colección incluye un total de 469 lotes y 7,418 especímenes tipo, la gran mayoría de los cuales son Paratipos (7,417), representando un total de 84 especies en 27 familias. Para cada...
La colección ictiológica del Museo de Zoología de la Universidad de Costa Rica, reconocida internacionalmente bajo las siglas “UCR”, se inició en 1962, a partir de material recolectado por los ictiólogos William A. Bussing y Myrna I. López. Lo anterior con el fin de ser utilizada en investigación y docencia. En 1966 se inició un plan sistemático de...
Se reportan las especies ícticas recolectadas en territorio mexicano, depositadas en el Museo de Zoología
de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR). Esta colección consta de 23 lotes y 178 especímenes, que representan 17 especies,
14 géneros, 11 familias y 6 órdenes. Se incluyen 9 paratipos, en 3 lotes; dos especímenes de Rypticus courtenayi
(Serranida...
New records of occurrence of two snipe eels (Avocettina bowersii and Nemichthys scolopaceus), poorly known for the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama are herein reported. Specimens, 45 in total (28 and 17, respectively), were collected between 1972 and 1973 at depths between 295 and 1000 m. Descriptions based on specimens as well as comparative...
This catalogue contains revised and updated taxonomic and distributional information about hagfishes of Mexico and Central America (Pacific and Caribbean coasts). It includes all nominal species of the family Myxinidae known to be present in the area as well as contiguous waters (Galápagos Islands, West Indies, and the Colombian Pacific and Caribbe...
A new species of Leptoderma Vaillant, 1886 is described from a single specimen trawled at 1368–1406 m depth off El Salvador, Central America, tropical eastern Pacific. Leptoderma ospesca n. sp. can be readily distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: dermal papillae absent along the lateral line, pectoral-fin rays...
Durante el evento denominado “Semana Internacional de la Ictiología” celebrado en la ciudad de Morelia, Michoacán, México, en noviembre de 2014, y en el cual se enmarcó el III Simposio Latinoamericano de Ictiología, Costa Rica fue designado como sede del IV Simposio Latinoamericano de Ictiología. Gracias al apoyo y esfuerzo de múltiples personas, i...
William Albert Bussing Burhaus, conocido con Don William, fue profesor de la Escuela de Biología de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) desde 1966 hasta 1991, año en que se acogió a pensión, nombrado Profesor Catedrático en 1978. Posterior a su retiro fue nombrado Profesor Emérito y fungió como curador de la Colección Ictiológica del Museo de Zoolog...
A specimen of the Pacific hagfish Eptatretus stoutii (Lockington, 1878), 351 mm total length, and four specimens of the Whiteface hagfish Myxine circifrons (Garman, 1899), 400–545 mm total length, were collected between 1987 and 2010 from off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica at depths ranging from 80 to 825 m. The specimen of E. stoutii represents t...
A checklist of the fishes of the Tusubres River basin, Pacific coast of Costa Rica, compiled from field and museum surveys is herein presented. A total of 54 species, representing 47 genera and 27 families, were recorded. Peripheral species were dominant (64.8%), followed by secondary freshwater fishes (20.4%); primary freshwater fishes accounted o...
Between 1990 and 1992, 2 adult specimens of the ventrad spiderfish, Bathypterois ventralis Garman 1899, were collected at depths between 637 and 880 m off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. These specimens constitute the first record of the species, the genus, and the family in Costa Rican waters. A brief description of specimens, as well as comparat...
A new species of shark belonging to the family Ginglymostomatidae is herein described; the new species show a wide distribution in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, where it is endemic. Ginglymostoma unami sp. nov. was previously recognized as G. cirratum exhibiting an amphi-American distribution; however that species is now considered to be restricted...
A new species of round stingray, Urobatis pardalis sp. nov., is described from material collected in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This new species differs from its congeners by the color pattern of the dorsal surface and by several proportional measurements. A key to all species of the genus is provided.
The whalefish Cetomimus gillii is reported for the first time in the Tropical Eastern Pacific on the basis of a single specimen captured from off Costa Rica. This new record represents the northernmost occurrence of the species in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. A brief diagnosis and a photograph of the specimen, as well as comparative morphometric and...
Manefish are not very common and there are few observations of associations with other organisms. An adult of the manefish Paracaristius maderensis and a juvenile of Paracaristius sp. are reported for the first time for the Pacific coast of Centra America. The adult specimen (215 mm standard length) was captured off Panama, at a depth of 1000 m. Th...
A checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of the inner part of the Gulf of Nicoya, Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Central America, was compiled by examining a museum fish collection, resulting in 72 families and 274 species. Of these species, 127 (46.4%) were marine species and 147 (53.6%) were estuarine-associated species. In terms of their lif...
A new species of Chimaera Linnaeus 1758 is described from three specimens collected from off the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and Peru. Chimaera orientalis n. sp., the first species of the genus described from the eastern Pacific Ocean, is distinguished from its other congeners by a combination of coloration and morphology. Additionally, new record...
A specimen of the Slimy head Hoplostethus mento was collected at a depth of 650–700 m from off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This specimen constitutes the first record of the species in Costa Rican waters and a north-west range extension of about 600 km on known distribution. A brief description of the specimen as well as comparative morphometri...
A specimen of the Mocosa ruff Schedophilus haedrichi was collected at a depth of 295–350 m from off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. This specimen constitutes the first record of the species in Costa Rican waters and a north-west range extension of about 750 km on known distribution. A brief description of the specimen as well as comparative morpho...
Se presenta a continuación un listado que recopila 260 nombres comunes y 60 nombres técnicos utilizados en Costa Rica para denominar un total de 154 especies de peces de agua dulce residentes en el país (151 nativas y 3 exóticas). Se incluye información relativa al origen, significado y uso de tales nombres a escala regional, así como información a...
A new species of Brycon is described from the Atlantic slope of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Brycon costaricensis n. sp. differs from all other Central American Brycon species by the following combination of characters: 49 to 54 scales in the lateral line; 5 or 6 rows of scales between lateral line and pectoral fin base; 9 to 11 rows of scales between...
Based on a combination of intensive literature review, electronic database searches, re-identification of museum specimens and fieldwork, we hereby provide an updated checklist of the freshwater fishes of continental and insular Costa Rica. This checklist, systematically arranged at the ordinal and familial level, includes nomenclatural revisions,...
A new species of Roeboides is described from the Pacific slope of Costa Rica and Panama. Roeboides bussingi differs from all other Central American Roeboides and all members of the R. guatemalensis species group by the following combination of characters: presence of 18-22 scales above the lateral line (vs. 12-16 in R. dientito); 15-22 scales below...
Publicación (guía) de caracter ilustrativo y didactico sobre los peces, su identificación, habitos alimenticios, distribución y aspectos ecológicos generales, habitando la cuenca del río Sarapiquí, vertiente Atlántica de Costa Rica.
Disponible en: http://www.revista.acuariofiliatotal.com/Libros_y_publicaciones/Peces_comunes_de_la_cuenca_del_rio_Sa...
