Carole C. Baldwin

• Ph.D.
• Curator of Fishes at Smithsonian Institution

The most comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide to the coastal fishes of Bermuda, Bahamas, and the Caribbean Sea. Capturing the remarkable diversity of fishes from estuaries, mangrove nurseries, coralline and rocky reefs to well offshore, this fully illustrated guide to the subtropical coast of Bermuda, the tropical waters of the Bahamas,...

Our understanding of phylogenetic relationships among bony fishes has been transformed by analysis of a small number of genes, but uncertainty remains around critical nodes. Genome-scale inferences so far have sampled a limited number of taxa and genes. Here we leveraged 144 genomes and 159 transcriptomes to investigate fish evolution with an unpar...

Mesophotic coral ecosystems, which occur at depths of ~40 to 150 m, have received recent scientific attention as potential refugia for organisms inhabiting deteriorating shallow reefs. These ecosystems merit research in their own right, as they harbor both depth-generalist species and a distinctive reef-fish fauna. Reef ecosystems just below the me...

Two new Lipogramma basslets are described, L. barrettorum and L. schrieri, captured during submersible diving to 300 m depth off Curaçao, southern Caribbean. Superficially resembling L. robinsi in having 11-12 bars of pigment on the trunk, L. barrettorum is distinct from L. robinsi in having a stripe of blue-white pigment along the dorsal midline o...

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...

A new species of deep-reef fish in the goby genus Palatogobius is described from recent submersible collections off Curaçao and Dominica. Video footage of schools of this species reveal predation by the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois spp.), the first record of undescribed fauna potentially being eaten by lionfish outside of its native rang...

A key to the genera of the Microgobius group of the Gobiosomatini (Gobiidae). (DOCX)

Appendix. Contains GenBank numbers and GenSeq information for new sequences generated in this study. (XLSX)

Coral cover at lower mesophotic depths (particularly >75 m) by zooxanthellate scleractinians is usually very scarce, largely due to the extremely low irradiance levels at these depths. An exception are the Leptoseris communities observed near the Hawaiian islands (Central Pacific) that form dense fields, supporting a broad range of associated organ...

The banded basslet, Lipogramma evides Robins & Colin, 1979, is shown to comprise two species: L. evides, which inhabits depths of 133-302 m, and a new species described here as Lipogramma levinsoni, which inhabits depths of 108-154 m and previously was considered to represent the juvenile of L. evides. A second new species of banded basslet, descri...

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Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) represent more than 50 % of extant vertebrates and are of great evolutionary, ecologic and economic significance, but they are relatively underrepresented in ‘omics studies. Increased availability of transcriptome data for these species will allow researchers to better understand changes in gene expression, and to...

A new species of scorpionfish, Scorpaenodes barrybrowni Pitassy & Baldwin, sp. n. which is described, was collected during submersible diving in the southern Caribbean as part of the Smithsonian’s Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP). It differs from the other two western Atlantic species of the genus, Scorpaenodes caribbaeus and Scorpaenodes trede...

We describe a new species of goby, Varicus lacerta sp. n., which was collected from a mesophotic reef at Curacao, southern Caribbean. The new species is the tenth species of Varicus, all of which occur below traditional SCUBA depths in the wider Caribbean area. Its placement in the genus Varicus is supported by a molecular phylogenetic analysis of...

The Nes subgroup of the Gobiosomatini (Teleostei: Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) is an ecologically diverse clade of fishes endemic to the western Atlantic and tropical eastern Pacific Oceans. It has been suggested that morphological characters in gobies tend to evolve via reduction and loss associated with miniaturization, and this, coupled with parallel...

Mesophotic and deeper reefs of the tropics are poorly known and underexplored ecosystems worldwide. Collectively referred to as the 'twilight zone,' depths below ~30-40 m are home to many species of reef fishes that are absent from shallower depths, including many undescribed and endemic species. We currently lack even a basic understanding of the...

As currently recognized, Ecsenius pulcher includes Salarias pulcher (type material has a banded color pattern), S. anomalus (non-banded), and S. phantasticus (banded). The color patterns are not sex linked, and no other morphological features apparently distinguish the three nominal species. The recent collection of banded and non-banded specimens...

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...

Citation: Baldwin CC, Robertson DR (2015) A new, mesophotic Coryphopterus goby (Teleostei, Gobiidae) from the southern Caribbean, with comments on relationships and depth distributions within the genus. Abstract A new species of western Atlantic Coryphopterus is described from mesophotic depths off Curaçao, southern Caribbean. Coryphopterus curasub...

Stable isotope (δ(13) C and δ(15) N) and gut content analyses were used to investigate size-related feeding habits of four reef fishes (the beaugregory Stegastes leucostictus, the french grunt Haemulon flavolineatum, the schoolmaster snapper Lutjanus apodus and the yellowtail snapper Ocyurus chrysurus) inhabiting an offshore (non-estuarine) mangrov...

Caribbean coral reef ecosystems are at the forefront of a global decline and are now facing a new threat: elimination of vulnerable species by the invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.). In addition to being threatened by habitat destruction and pollution, the critically endangered social wrasse (Halichoeres socialis), endemic to Belize’s inner barrier r...

Collecting reef-fish specimens using a manned submersible diving to 300 m off Curaçao, southern Caribbean, is resulting in the discovery of numerous new fish species. The new Liopropoma sea bass described here differs from other western Atlantic members of the genus in having VIII, 13 dorsal-fin rays; a moderately indented dorsal-fin margin; a yell...

Examination of genetic data (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I) for western Atlantic clingfishes revealed two distinct lineages within a group of individuals originally identified as Acyrtus artius. Subsequent investigation of preserved voucher specimens was conducted to reconcile the genetic data and the existing classification, which is based...

Integrative taxonomy, in which multiple disciplines are combined to address questions related to biological species diversity, is a valuable tool for identifying pelagic marine fish larvae and recognizing the existence of new fish species. Here we combine data from DNA barcoding, comparative morphology, and analysis of color patterns to identify an...

An improved and expanded nomenclature for genetic sequences is introduced that corresponds with a ranking of the reliability of the taxonomic identification of the source specimens. This nomenclature is an advancement of the "Genetypes" naming system, which some have been reluctant to adopt because of the use of the "type" suffix in the terminology...

Ichthyologists, natural-history artists, and tropical-fish aquarists have described, illustrated, or photographed colour patterns in adult marine fishes for centuries, but colour patterns in marine fish larvae have largely been neglected. Yet the pelagic larval stages of many marine fishes exhibit subtle to striking, ephemeral patterns of chromatop...

AbstractA second species of the blenniiform genus Haptoclinus is described from deep reefs off Curaçao, southern Caribbean. Haptoclinus dropi sp. n. differs from the northwestern Caribbean Haptoclinus apectolophus Böhlke and Robins, 1974, in having 29 total dorsal-fin elements—III-I-XIII, 12 (vs. 31—III-I-XIV, 13 or III-I-XIII, 14); 19 anal-fin sof...

A comparative study of the reproductive organs in 17 of the 30 species of the tribe Starksiini (Labrisomidae, Blenniiformes) and related labrisomids reveals the major traits of gamete form and production and likely reproductive modes. The testes are of the lobular type and have a testicular gland and sperm ducts. Isodiametric sperm (aquasperm) with...

Aim To investigate how marine barriers shaped the demographic history of Atlantic seahorses (Syngnathidae: Hippocampus ). Location Atlantic Ocean. Methods Range‐wide sampling ( n = 390) at mitochondrial and up to five nuclear DNA loci was carried out across the Hippocampus erectus species complex ( H. erectus from the Caribbean/North America, H....

Western Atlantic synodontid species were studied as part of an ongoing effort to reanalyze Caribbean shorefish diversity. A neighbor- joining tree constructed from cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) data revealed 2 highly divergent genetic lineages within both Synodus intermedius (Agassiz, 1829) (Sand Diver) and S. foetens (Linnaeus, 1766) (Inshore Lizar...

In the western Atlantic region, the contribution of mangrove food sources to fish diets has been considered of more limited importance than previously expected due to the proximity of mangroves to adjacent potential food sources such as those in seagrass beds. To investigate the influence of different types of mangrove habitats on the relative cont...

Foraging habitats of juveniles of the Mayan cichlid, Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Günther, 1862), were investigated in two mangrove ponds located in Twin Cays offshore islet in Belize: Sink Hole pond (SH) and Hidden Lake pond (HL). Sink Hole pond is a semiclosed body of water, whereas Hidden Lake pond is connected by a channel to adjacent seagrass beds...

This paper represents a DNA barcode data release for 3,400 specimens representing 521 species of fishes from 6 areas across the Caribbean and western central Atlantic regions (FAO Region 31). Merged with our prior published data, the combined efforts result in 3,964 specimens representing 572 species of marine fishes and constitute one of the most...

Aligned fasta-format file of all specimens. “Missing” sequence data from beginning and end of any sequences has been filled with “N’s” to avoid generating any alignment discrepancies. Title line for each specimen indicates Field Identification number and taxonomic identification. (TXT)

This chapter is an overview of the techniques for DNA barcoding of fishes from field collection to DNA sequence analysis. Recommendations for modifications of field protocols and best tissue sampling practices are made. A variety of DNA extraction protocols is provided, including high-throughput robot-assisted methods. A pair of well-tested forward...

The present study describes the distribution of taste buds and teeth in the oropharyngeal cavity of 13 species of adult (18-60 mm SL) Starksiini fishes inhabiting subtidal waters of the Neotropical region. Four types of taste buds described previously in other fish groups were observed within the oropharyngeal cavity, of which type I, situated on p...

A new species of Rypticus is described from the Bahamas, Bermuda, Florida, and the Caribbean Sea. The species previously has been confused with the spotted soapfish, R. subbifrenatus Gill 1861, with which it shares a similar pattern of dark spotting on the body. The new species differs from R. subbifrenatus in having yellow pigment on the pectoral...

We describe Bythaelurus giddingsi sp. nov. based on 7 specimens collected using the submersible Johnson Sea-Link from deepwater (428–562 m depth) areas of the Galápagos Islands. It is presumed to be endemic to the archipelago. The new species differs from its congeners in its coloration, the length of its anal-fin base, and in other morphological c...

Early life-history stages of 12 of 17 species of western Central Atlantic Apogon were identified using molecular data. A neighbor-joining tree was constructed from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase-c subunit I (COl) sequences, and genetic lineages of Apogon in the tree were identified to species based on adults in the lineages. Relevant portions of...

The feeding habits and habitats of the speckled worm eel Myrophis punctatus were studied on the mangrove edge of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL, Florida) using gut-content and stable-isotope analyses of carbon (δ(13) C) and nitrogen (δ(15) N). Four taxa were identified through analyses of gut contents, and the index of relative importance suggested t...

Specimens of Starksia were collected throughout the western Atlantic, and a 650-bp portion of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase-c subunit I (COl) was sequenced as part of a re-analysis of species diversity of western Central Atlantic shorefishes. A neighbor-joining tree constructed from the sequence data suggests the existence of several cr...

Phaeoptyx and Astrapogon are represented in the Caribbean by six species (P. conklini, P. pigmentaria, P. xenus, A. alutus, A. stellatus, and A. puncticulatus). Species identification of larvae and juveniles is problematic because characters used to distinguish adults (e.g., patterns of pigmentation and numbers of gill rakers) are absent, incomplet...

Species identifi cation of western Atlantic Coryphopterus can be problem-atic because some of the species are morphologically similar, there is confusing morpho-logical variation within some species, no taxonomic key includes all currently recognized species, and the validity of some species is questionable. The most recently published keys do not...

FIGURE 1. Neighbor-joining tree derived from Cytochrome Oxidase 1 sequences showing three genetically distinct lineages of Belizean Phaeoptyx.

FIGURE 4. Phaeoptyx adults: (A) Phaeoptyx conklini, USNM 393372, 40 mm SL, 5143; (B) Phaeoptyx conklini, USNM 393376, 30 mm SL, 5303; (C) Phaeoptyx pigmentaria, USNM 393338, 30 mm SL, 5269; (D) Phaeoptyx pigmentaria, USNM 393327, 38 mm SL, 5052; (E) Phaeoptyx xenus, USNM 393395, 38 mm SL, 6298; (F) Phaeoptyx xenus, USNM 393393, 28 mm SL, 5465.

FIGURE 2. Phaeoptyx larvae: (A) Phaeoptyx conklini, 12 mm SL, 5039; (B) Phaeoptyx pigmentaria, USNM 393356, 15 mm SL, 7013, (C) Phaeoptyx pigmentaria, USNM 393358, 15.5 mm SL, 7080; (D) Phaeoptyx xenus, 8 mm SL, 6161.

FIGURE 3. Phaeoptyx juveniles: (A) Phaeoptyx conklini, USNM 393373, 22 mm SL, 5144; (B) Phaeoptyx pigmentaria, USNM 393352, 19 mm SL, 6371; (C) Phaeoptyx xenus, USNM 393399, 21 mm SL, 7741.

FIGURE 7. Neighbor-joining tree derived from Cytochrome Oxidase 1 sequences showing three genetically distinct lineages of Belizean Astrapogon.

FIGURE 9. Astrapogon juveniles: (A) Astrapogon puncticulatus, USNM 393404, 14 mm SL, 5488, reared specimen; (B) Astrapogon stellatus, USNM 393413, 10 mm SL, 6449, reared specimen; (C) Astrapogon stellatus, USNM 393413, 13 mm SL, 6450, reared specimen.

FIGURE 5. Teeth of Phaeoptyx conklini (A), USNM 365171, 38 mm SL, and Phaeoptyx pigmentaria (B), USNM 347318, 19 mm SL.

FIGURE 8. Astrapogon larvae: (A) Astrapogon alutus, 5 mm SL, 6041; (B) Astrapogon alutus, 6 mm SL, 6040; (C) Astrapogon stellatus, 7 mm SL, 6038; (D) Astrapogon puncticulatus, 9.5 mm SL, 4449; (E) Astrapogon puncticulatus, USNM 393909, 12 mm SL, 5396; (F) Astrapagon puncticulatus, USNM 393407, 13 mm SL, 7125; (G) Astrapagon puncticulatus, 8.5 mm SL...

Rainfordia opercularis was described in 1923 from a single specimen taken in Edgecumbe Bay, Queensland, Australia. The species is rare in museum collections, and the larvae have not been described. In 1999, two settlement-stage larvae (20–21 mm in standard length) were collected in light traps set off Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland....

Akko was originally described for a highly autapomorphic species of goby, A. dionaea, taken off Brazil. The genus is here recorded for the first time from the eastern Pacific Ocean. The poorly known eastern Pacific goby Amblyopus brevis Günther is redescribed as Akko brevis based on the study of numerous specimens recently collected off Panama and...

The Pelican Cays are a distinctive group of mangrove islands in the south central part of the Belize Barrier Reef Complex. As part of a coordinated investigation of biodiversity in the Pelican Cays, we sampled fishes using a combination of small rotenone stations and visual censuses. The Pelican Cays are part of a structurally defined larger group...

Little descriptive and specific taxonomic information is available regarding the early life history stages of Caribbean coral-reef fishes. Ongoing studies at the Smithsonian Institution's research station at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, involving the rearing of net-collected larval fishes is allowing specific identifications of numerous larval types. Fi...

The subtropical South Pacific serranid fish Pseudogramma australis Randall & Baldwin, 1997, was divided by Randall & Baldwin (1997) into two subspecies, P. a. pasquensis from Easter Island (type locality of P. australis) and P. a. australis from the Pitcairn Islands to Tonga. The latter is now regarded as a valid species, distinct in its yellow gro...

Comparisons of the holotype of Plectranthias lamillai Rojas and Pequeño, 1998, collected off the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile, with type and nontype material of another eastern South Pacific species, Plectranthias exsul Heemstra and Anderson, 1983, show that the differences between the two nominal taxa reported by Rojas and Pequeño...

Halichoeres raisneri, new species, is described from three specimens captured by the Johnson Sea Link submersible at 114-125 m off Wolf Island, Galápagos. Distinctive features of the new species include a dorsally projecting fleshy flap along the posterior three-quarters of the upper lip and the absence of a canine tooth at the corner of the upper...

Anthias noeli, new species, is described from 17 specimens collected off the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific, keys to the species of Anthias and to the species of eastern Pacific Anthiinae are provided, and comments are presented on hermaphroditism in the Anthiinae. The specimens of the new species, described herein, constitute the first a...

Paxton concilians is described as a new genus and species of pseudamine apogonid from four specimens trawled off northwestern Australia. It differs most conspicuously from all other apogonids in having a continuous dorsal fin but shares with other members of the family certain specializations of the dorsal gill arches, last spinous dorsal fin ptery...

Juveniles of four species of shallow water ophiuroids were captured in a plankton net tethered on the reef flat at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize: Ophiothrix orstedii, Ophiothrix angulata, Ophiocoma wendtii, and Ophiactis savignyi. These water-borne animals were similar in size to the smallest benthic conspecifics found on the reef, but considerably larger...

Psilotris amblyrhynchus is described from one adult and one juvenile collected in shallow waters in the vicinity of Carrie Bow Gay, Belize, Central America. Settlement-stage larvae of the new species were collected in a stationary plankton net and are used to augment the description; two of these were reared through metamorphosis. Psilotris amblyrh...

Belonoperca pylei is described from five specimens collected at depths of 68–122m from Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It differs from all other known diploprionin serranids in having IX, 10 dorsal-fin rays, III, 7 anal-fin rays, and a color pattern composed primarily of yellow and organge pigments. Cladistic analysis of epinepheline morphology supports m...

Protoblepharon rosenblatti is described from a single large specimen collected at 274 m off Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It differs from other anomalopids most notably in having a low number of gill rakers on the first arch (21 vs. 24 or more), high number of body scale rows (ca. 145 vs. 130 or fewer), no postorbital papillae, and a very small gap betw...

The osteology of the rate Japanese fishPseudotrichonotus altivelis is described based on several specimens collected off the Izu Peninsula. Relationships ofPseudotrichonotus are discussed based on osteological comparisons with other neoteleosts. The placement ofPseudotrichonotus among iniomous fishes has been questioned because of its lower numbers...

Acanthemblemaria johnsoni is described from six specimens collected from shallow coral reefs at the north end of the Caribbean island of Tobago. The new species differs from all other Atlantic species of Acanthemblemaria by the combined spinous and soft dorsal-fin ray count of XXIV, 12-13. Evolutionary relationships of the new species are discussed...

The first wildcaught larva of a flashlight fish is described from a single specimen of Kryptophanaron alfredi, 6.2 mm NL, collected with a midwater trawl in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas. The larva lacks light organs, but an antrorse projection on each side of the snout represents at least the stalk of an incipient light organ. Other distinguish...

Relationships among epinepheline genera are investigated based on cladistic analysis of larval and adult morphology. Five monophyletic tribes are delineated, and relationships among tribes and among genera of the tribe Grammistini are hypothesized. Generic composition of tribes differs from Johnson's (1983) classification only in the allocation of...

A survey of characters defining the Neoteleostei, Eurypterygii, Ctenosquamata, Acanthomorpha, Paracanthopterygii and Acanthopterygii convincingly places the Lampridiformes within the acanthomorph clade. Lampridiforms are primitive with respect to the Percomorpha but their precise placement among basal acanthomorphs remains unclear. In the absence o...

Morphology is described for larvae of two species of the epinepheline serranid tribe Diploprionini and one of the tribe Grammistini, and known larvae of other epinephelines are compared. Early stage eggs and development of larvae of Diploprion bifasciatum are described from 144 laboratory-reared specimens, and postflexion larvae of Belonoperca chab...