Philippe Keith

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Verified

Philippe verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Professor at Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Understanding how tropical rivers change in response to human-induced disturbances represents a major challenge for management and conservation. However, monitoring networks based on ecological indicators remain scarce in oceanic islands, where freshwater indigenous fish and macro-crustacean assemblages are dominated by diadromous species. We inves...

Analytical imaging via synchrotron analysis was used to study sagittal otoliths of four freshwater pipefish species exhibiting amphidromous or freshwater resident lifestyles. We undertook a hyperfine elemental scanning of a 25 μm diameter length area centred on the core, namely the pre-hatch zone, corresponding to the sagitta formed during embryoge...

Syngnathidae are a charismatic family of teleost fishes, represented by seahorses, seadragons, and pipefishes. Syngnathidae are mainly composed of marine species, but about 30 species of pipefishes inhabit freshwater insular environments of the Indo‐Pacific realm. Recent research has shown that some freshwater pipefish species are amphidromous and...

A new species of freshwater pipefish, Microphis arrakisae sp. nov., is described from the West Indonesian Islands (Java, Bali and Lombok). This species is morphologically very close to Microphis retzii (Bleeker, 1856), which is found in the eastern Indonesian Islands (Sulawesi, Ceram, Ambon and Papua). However, it can be distinguished by its in viv...

To tackle the question of the reliability of otoliths as recorders of individual life events, we compared the information enclosed in otolith pairs: the sagittae pair and the sagitta/lapillus pair. We used the synchrotron XRF scanning imaging method, which enabled the comparison of this information at both global and hyperfine scales. Using otolith...

A new freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium ngankeeae n. sp., is described from two rivers in the Kaimana Regency on the southern coast of Papua Barat Province, Indonesia. The new species belongs to the Macrobrachium placidulum species-group, but it can be easily distinguished from the other members of this group by having fewer postorbital teeth and the...

In the present contribution, five species of Ptychognathus Stimpson, 1858 are reported from Polynesia: P. crassimanus Finnegan, 1931, P. easteranus Rathbun, 1907, P. riedelii (A. Milne-Edwards, 1868) and two new species. The first new species named P. ngankeeae sp. nov. is close to P. barbatus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1873) from New Caledonia, which is h...

Simple Summary Otoliths, calcified biomineralised structures in bony fish inner ear, are remarkable objects as keepers of individual life, both in terms of time and environment. Otolith microchemical analysis was undertaken with a synchrotron-based scanning X-ray fluorescence 2D high-resolution mapping method and we developed analytical imaging pro...

Freshwater habitats in Indo-Pacific tropical islands are mainly inhabited by amphidromous fish, which display a marine larval phase while the rest of their life cycle takes place in rivers. Gobiiformes are the most diversified fish component in these ecosystems. In this study, we focused on the status of the widespread Stenogobius genus (Gobioidei)...

DNA tools are increasingly used for identifying species, however, successful DNA-based identification requires a reference library of DNA sequences from accurately identified specimens. Here we present a reference library of COI and 12S sequences for New Caledonian freshwater fish. Our library contains 523 MNHN voucher specimens, representing 84 va...

Siluriformes are considered as primarily freshwater and have frequently been a model for the study of historical biogeography. Among catfishes, the most diverse clade is the Loricarioidei, a Neotropical group for which the fossil record extends back to the Palaeocene of Argentina. Here we describe a fossil from the early Late Cretaceous of Morocco,...

Twelve species of atyid shrimps are reported from three Micronesian islands (Babeldaob, Pohnpei, and Guam) and studied using a combined morphological and molecular approach. Among them, three are new records for the area (Caridina appendiculata, Caridina lobocensis, and Caridina rubella), while three new species are here described: Atyoida chacei s...

Insular biodiversity hotspots of Southeast Asia are remarkable for their biodiverse faunas. With a marine larval phase lasting up to several months, the freshwater fish subfamily Sicydiinae has colonized most islands of these hotspots. However, Sicydiinae diversity is still poorly understood in Southeast Asia. With the objective to estimate intrasp...

Several research projects on the taxonomy and ecology of New Caledonian freshwater fish have been conducted between 1999 and 2009. Theses studies, based on classic taxonomic methods, highlighted the difficulty to identify some species belonging to the Gobiidae, Eleotridae or Syngnathidae families. With the coming of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)...

Although the ecological impacts of recreational activities in clear tropical streams are occasionally acknowledged and addressed, frequently they remain unmanaged, despite the fact that such streams are highly sought-after destinations for leisure pursuits. Here, we provide a case study on the ecological characteristics of the Indo-Pacific freshwat...

Butis species (Teleostei: Butidae) from the Indo-Pacific area are reviewed. Ten species, including three new species, are recognized using genetic and morphomeristic approaches. The species differ by a high percentage of divergence (4.7% to 18%) in partial COI gene (452 bp) and by several characters including the number of interorbital scales, the...

This study results from a continued investigation of the occurrence and diversity of parasites of freshwater fish in the Solomon Islands. Thus, we revealed a new host as well as a new site of infection and a new geographical area for the cryptogonimid parasite, Stemmatostoma cribbi (Digenea: Cryptogonimidae). The cryptogonimid species was identifie...

Due to their life cycle shared between rivers and oceans, amphidromous organisms serve as intriguing models for studying biogeography. To investigate the implications of their unique life history, we examined the population structure of the amphidromous shrimp Caridina natalensis across its known range in the South Western Indian Ocean. A total of...

The family Syngnathidae (seahorses, sea dragons and pipefishes) is a fascinating group. Species are mostly distributed in marine coastal waters, but about 30 species inhabit Indo-Pacific tropical island rivers. There are currently six freshwater genera of Nerophinae (trunk-brooders): Belonichthys, Coelonotus, Doryichthys, Lophocampus, Microphis and...

The family Syngnathidae (seahorses, sea dragons and pipefishes) is a fascinating group. Species are mostly distributed in marine coastal waters, but about 30 species inhabit Indo-Pacific tropical island rivers. There are currently six freshwater genera of Nerophinae (trunk-brooders): Belonichthys, Coelonotus, Doryichthys, Lophocampus, Microphis and...

The taxonomy of Hypseleotris fish species from the Indo-Pacific (Australian endemics not included) is revised, using combined molecular and morphological approaches. Seven species are recognized, including description of one new species (Hypseleotris ebneri sp. nov.) and re-elevation of four previous synonyms (Hypseleotris alexis, Hypseleotris ever...

Located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, the New Caledonian archipelago hosts a diversified and original ichthyofauna. Marine ecosystems host 2,339 species of fish, including ~1,450 for coral reefs alone and a total of 94 endemics, especially in deep environments. the proximity of the centre of biodiversity (the "coral triangle"), as well as a great...

Freshwater habitats in Indo-Pacific tropical islands are mainly inhabited by amphidromous fish, which display a marine larval phase while the rest of their life cycle takes place in rivers. Gobiidae are the most diversified fish component in these ecosystems. In this study, we focused on the status of the widespread Stenogobius genus (Gobioidei). T...

Scientists use otoliths to trace fish life history, especially fish migrations. Otoliths incorporate signatures of individual growth and environmental use. For many species, distinct increment patterns in the otolith are difficult to discern; thus, questions remain about crucial life history information. To unravel the history of such species, we u...

Numerous specimens of freshwater shrimps identified as Caridina longicarpus Roux, 1926 were recently collected from New Caledonia. Following an integrative taxonomy approach, they were morphologically and genetically studied. Results of a 16S mtDNA analysis showed that the specimens initially identified as C. longicarpus were distributed in two geo...

La connaissance taxonomique des poissons d'eau douce français ou européens s'est beaucoup enrichie depuis le début des années 2000 grâce à l'évolution du concept d'espèce, de la perception des bassins versants et de la systématique moléculaire (séquençage d'ADN et leur comparaison). Elle contribue à améliorer la gestion et la conservation des resso...

The rivers of tropical islands are colonized by amphidromous species. The order Gobiiformes presents the major diversity in these teleost communities. The genus Rhyacichthys forms a particular group within this order, with the presence of several plesiomorphic characters but also because it constitutes the sister group of all other Gobiiformes. The...

Sicyopterus garra Hora, 1925 from the insular streams of South Andaman Islands was synonymized with Sicyopterus microcephalus described from Java, South East Asia and has retained this taxonomic status since then. Recent collections of Sicyopterus from the type locality of S. garra and the examination of syntypes of this species revealed significan...

The suborder Gobioidei is among the most diverse groups of vertebrates, comprising about 2310 species. In the fossil record gobioids date back to the early Eocene (c. 50 m.y. ago), and a considerable increase in numbers of described species is evident since the middle Miocene (c. 16 m.y. ago). About 40 skeleton-based gobioid species and > 100 otoli...

Three specimens of Hippichthys albomaculosus Jenkins & Mailautoka, 2010, only known from Fiji, were recently collected from the North Province of New Caledonia. Morphomeristic values confirm the identity of specimens. This study constitutes the first record of this species in New Caledonia and outside of its type locality.

Sicyopus discordipinnis, of the subfamily Sicydiinae (Oxudercidae), was first described from Papua New Guinea and it was found more recently in Papua, Indonesia, Solomon, Australia and also on the Sahul Shelf. During research on the riverine ichthyofauna of Sulawesi Island, S. discordipinnis was found in four rivers in Banggai Regency, Central Sula...

En Nouvelle-Calédonie, de nombreux travaux de taxonomie et d’écologie ont été réalisés sur la faune piscicole d’eau douce, entre 1999 et 2009, notamment par le MNHN, conduisant à plusieurs thèses et à la réalisation d’un Atlas (2003), prélude à la mise en place de la première réglementation et des listes d’espèces protégées. Ces études, basées sur...

A l’image de nombreux territoires insulaires, les cours d’eau des îles hautes de la Polynésie française sont colonisés par des espèces majoritairement diadromes (poissons, crustacés, mollusques). Cette capacité de migration entre deux biomes implique des cycles biologiques complexes qui sont parfois difficiles à étudier dans leur globalité ; notamm...

Several gobioid species have amphidromous migration patterns; adult gobies spawn in their freshwater habitat, embryos are carried by river currents to reach the sea where they undergo a planktonic phase lasting several months before migrating to estuarine and then freshwater (predominantly riverine) environments to grow and breed. Around the island...

Three specimens of Hippichthys albomaculosus Jenkins and Mailautoka, 2010, only known from Fiji, were recently collected from the North Province of New Caledonia. Morphomeristic values confirm the identity of specimens. This study constitutes the first record of this species in New Caledonia and outside of its type locality.

The species of Eleotris from Indonesia are reviewed and compared to the known species described from the area. Nine species are recognized including three new species in the melanosoma neuromast pattern group. These are described using genetic and morpho-meristic approaches. The new species differ by a high percentage of genetic divergence in parti...

Post-larvae of amphidromous gobies, locally known as ‘penja’ in Sulawesi, is a group of fish that are often caught by fishermen as consumption fish when migrating and has a life-cycle which begins with adults spawning in the river, the eggs and embryos are then carried by river currents, hatching before arriving at the sea, and spend their larval a...

a new species of Coelonotus, a freshwater pipefish, is described on the basis of six specimens from the Gavuvu river of West new Britain Island (Papua new Guinea). It differs from other Coelonotus species by a combination of morphomeristic values including: number of dorsal fin rays (45-47), number of subdorsal (4-5) and tail rings (35-37). the Fol...

Myxosporeans are microscopic cnidarians associated with severe diseases in aquaculture and wild fish populations. This group of parasitic cnidarians thus warrants close attention concerning its potential impact on susceptible fish stocks. At present, little is known about this group of parasites infecting anguillid eels. From myxospore specimens co...

The cover image is based on the Original Article Waterfalls mediate the longitudinal distribution of diadromous predatory fishes structuring communities in tropical, short, steep coastal streams, by Brendan Ebner et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13712.

Ophiocara species from the Indo-Pacific area are reviewed. Three species are recognized using genetic and morphomeristic approaches. The species differ by a high percentage of divergence (around 8%) in partial COI gene (446 bp) and by several characters including the number of scales in lateral, transverse backward, zigzag, and predorsal series, an...

• Tropical short, steep coastal streams are typically dominated by diadromous species, especially amphidromous fishes, crustaceans, and molluscs. We undertook a study to determine the distribution of fishes along the stream continuum and determine if substantial natural instream barriers influenced assemblage composition. • We surveyed fish assembl...

Amphidromous shrimps of the genus Caridina (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) are essential components of the tropical insular freshwater ecosystems. Due to an extremely confused taxonomy, their biodiversity is poorly known, and their conservation status cannot be properly assessed. However, thanks to recent advances of integrative taxonomy, the system...

A new species of Schismatogobius, a freshwater goby, is described from Sulawesi (Indonesia). It differs from other species belonging to the genus by a high percentage of genetic divergence in partial COI gene (652 bp) and by several characters, including the number of pectoral fin rays, the pectoral fin colour pattern, the jaw length/head length ra...

French minnows of the genus Phoxinus are revised based on molecular data (COI and 12S rDNA markers), morphological characters and nuptial colouration patterns. The results delineate six groups of populations, which are recognised as species. Phoxinus phoxinus is found in eastern France in the lower and middle Rhine and Seine drainages. Phoxinus big...

Abstract Chlordecone (CLD) levels measured in the rivers of the French West Indies were among the highest values detected worldwide in freshwater ecosystems, and its contamination is recognised as a severe health, environmental, agricultural, economic, and social issue. In these tropical volcanic islands, rivers show strong originalities as simplif...

The modern Gobioidei (Teleostei) comprise eight families, but the extinct †Pirskeniidae from the lower Oligocene of the Czech Republic indicate that further families may have existed in the past. However, the validity of the †Pirskeniidae has been questioned and its single genus †Pirskenius has been assigned to the extant family Eleotridae in previ...

Recent research studied the complexity of the taxonomy of the genus Eleotris (Teleostei: Eleotridae) highlighting the presence of cryptic species in the Indo-Pacific area. Eleotris species are one of the most common fish in lower and medium parts of insular freshwater streams. Here we studied specimens from several localities in the Indian Ocean an...

Following recent (2014–2017) collections made in the Solomon Islands by the MNHN and the NGO ESSI, we provide a checklist of the species of amphidromous freshwater shrimps of the genus Caridina H. Milne Edwards, 1837 from this region. Using morphological as well as molecular data in an integrative taxonomic perspective, we found a total of 24 speci...

A new species of Sicyopterus, a freshwater goby, is described from streams of Papua New Guinea on the island of West New Britain, where specimens were caught during two field missions in 2015 and 2019. It differs from other species belonging to the genus by a combination of characters including the upper lip morphology, a second dorsal fin with one...

In this paper, we describe a new non-damaging internal tissue sampling method for preserved collection of teleostean specimens. It was tested on freshwater pipefish, as external tissue sampling is made difficult by the lack of scales, the lack of pelvic fins, the atrophy of pectoral and anal fins. The internal tissue is detached by scratching the i...

Numerous specimens of Atyoida were collected in Polynesia during specific samplings led by the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN, Paris) from 1983 to 2017. In the context of an integrative taxonomy, all the Polynesian specimens were morphologically and genetically studied. The molecular study proved that the specimens were split in two dif...

Sundaland constitutes one of the largest and most threatened biodiversity hotspots; however, our understanding of its biodiversity is afflicted by knowledge gaps in taxonomy and distribution patterns. The subfamily Rasborinae is the most diversified group of freshwater fishes in Sundaland. Uncertainties in their taxonomy and systematics have constr...

Sundaland constitutes one of the largest and most threatened biodiversity hotspots; however, our understanding of its biodiversity is afflicted by knowledge gaps in taxonomy and distribution patterns. The subfamily Rasborinae is the most diversified group of freshwater fishes in Sundaland. Uncertainties in their taxonomy and systematics have constr...

DNA barcoding opens new perspectives on the way we document biodiversity. Initially proposed to circumvent the limits of morphological characters to assign unknown individuals to known species, DNA barcoding has been used in a wide array of studies where collecting species identity constitutes a crucial step. The assignment of unknowns to knowns as...

Species proliferate through evolutionary mechanisms but coexist through ecological dynamics. As such, it might be expected that mechanisms of speciation and species maintenance jointly influence the settlement of ecological communities, a process called community assembly. Disentangling the relative contribution of evolutionary and ecological dynam...

Penja is the local name for the postlarvae of fish belonging to the Gobioidei, whose appearance at certain times is an amphidromous migration process from the sea to rivers. This group of fish is generally referred to as amphidromous gobies. This study aimed to reveal some facts related to the species diversity of penja based on morphological chara...

The study of the ichthyofaunal corpus yielded by the archaeological site of Teouma, Efate Island, Vanuatu, has revealed the unexpected presence of a significant number of bones of Eleotridae (Sleepers) on the site, as early as 2920-2870 cal. B.P. Out of the 8560 identified fish remains associated with the Lapita layers, which document the period of...

A new species of Sicyopus, a sicydiine goby, is described from specimens collected in streams of New Britain (Papua New Guinea). It differs from other species of this amphidromous genus by a combination of characters including a second dorsal fin with one spine and ten segmented rays, fewer scales in lateral series and transverse back series, and s...

This study described a new stone loach species in France, Barbatula leoparda, which is endemic to French Catalonia (Têt and Tech river drainages). Seven specimens were compared to 49 specimens of B. barbatula (Linnaeus, 1758) and 71 specimens of B. quignardi (Băcescu-Meşter, 1967). This new species is characterized by the presence of blotches on th...

Aim Geographical gradients in resource production are likely to translate into macroecological patterns in the biodiversity of migratory organisms, but few studies have addressed this question at a global scale. Here, we tested a hypothesis based on uncoupled latitudinal gradients in marine and freshwater primary productivities aimed at explaining...

The population genetic structure of Neritina stumpffi Boettger, 1890 in the Indo-Pacific and Neritina canalis Sowerby, 1825 in the Pacific Ocean were investigated using a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene. The haplotype network of N. stumpffi showed a genetic structuration between the two oceans, with shared haplotypes. Concerning N. canalis,...

Biodiversity hotspots have provided useful geographic proxies for conservation efforts. Delineated from a few groups of animals and plants, biodiversity hotspots do not reflect the conservation status of freshwater fishes. With hundreds of new species described on a yearly basis, fishes constitute the most poorly known group of vertebrates. This si...

Sicydiinae gobies have an amphidromous life cycle. Adults grow, feed, and reproduce in rivers, while larvae have a marine dispersal phase. Larvae recruit back to rivers and settle in upstream habitats. Within the Sicydiinae subfamily, the Sicyopterus genus, one of the most diverse (24 species), is distributed in the tropical islands of the Indo-Pac...

Caridina weberi, an emblematic species of the ‘C. weberi complex’, was described by De Man in 1892 from different localities in Indonesia. Until now, this species was thought to have a wide distribution in Polynesia. Numerous specimens identified as C. weberi were collected recently from various Polynesian islands. In the context of integrative tax...

Eleotris species (Teleostei: Eleotridae) are one of the most common fish in Indo-Pacific estuaries and insular freshwater streams. In these rivers, they are a sit-and-wait predator. They have an amphidromous life cycle i.e., adults grow, feed and reproduce in rivers, while larvae have a marine dispersal phase. Larvae recruit back to rivers and sett...

Atyid shrimps, a key component of tropical freshwater ecosystems, face multiple anthropogenic threats and thus need special attention. With more than 300 described species, the genus Caridina is the most speciose of all the Caridea infra-order. Caridina spp. occupy diverse habitats in tropical freshwaters of the Indo-West Pacific region. Several sp...

Numerous specimens of a freshwater shrimp with small eggs belonging to the Caridina nilotica complex collected in the South Western Indian Ocean were studied and compared with recent and old collection specimens genetically (16S mitochondrial analysis for recent and type specimens) and morphologically. The results revealed that, in the Indian Ocean...

Caridina longirostris H. Milne Edwards, 1837 described from specimens supposedly from La Macta River near Oran, Algeria, is an emblematic species of the ‘C. nilotica complex’. Until now this species was thought to have a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific region. Recently, numerous specimens identified as C. longirostris were collected from vari...

Indo-Pacific insular freshwater systems are mainly dominated by amphidromous species. Eleotris fusca is a widespread one, its life cycle is characterised by a marine pelagic larval phase allowing the species to disperse in the ocean and then to recruit to remote island rivers. In the present study, the population structure of E. fusca over its Indo...