Revision of the Western Atlantic Clingfishes of the Genus Tomicodon (Gobiesocidae), with Descriptions of Five New Species. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, Number 621

摘要

Extensive collecting efforts involving rotenone sampling throughout the Caribbean Sea during the last four decades have vastly increased the numbers of specimens of cryptic fishes in museum collections. Among such collections containing clingfishes of the genus Tomicodon Brisout de Barneville taken by ourselves and others, we have discovered numerous Caribbean species of Tomicodon in addition to those recognized by W.F. Smith-Vaniz in 1968 (T.fasciatus (Peters, 1859) and T. rhabdotus Smith-Vaniz, 1968). We recognize herein eight more species: three for which names are available--T. rupestris (Poey, 1860), T. australis Briggs, 1955, and T. reitzae Briggs, 2001 (the last erroneously described as a species from the eastern Pacific Ocean); and five species described as new herein--T. briggsi, T. clarkei, T. cryptus, T. lavettsmithi, and T. leurodiscus.