SPECIES BY FAMILY/SUBFAMILY IN THE

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The number of valid species of fishes exceeds 31,000, with over 500 new species being added in 2008. Various authors cite the number of species in a particular family or subfamily, especially in family revisions. This is useful information for biodiversity estimates, conservation issues, etc.

For large scale estimates, the standard source for a number of years has been Nelson's "Fishes of the World" (latest edition the fourth in 2006). Nelson (2006: 2) states that his numbers are conservative estimates of valid described species. They are based as far as possible, on the latest taxonomic revisions of families and genera and the opinions of the specialists. Some estimates are based on analysis of large groups, such as catfishes (Ferraris 2007, "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) and catalog of siluriform primary types.") A large regional work with estimates of valid species and estimated undescribed species is CLOFFSCA - Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America (Reis, Kullander and Ferraris 2003). Other sources, such as FishBase and regional summaries are also useful.

We feel the most current and most accurate counts of valid species is the Catalog of Fishes database, one that has been maintained for about 25 years, and which tracks all new taxa and many revisional studies on an almost daily basis. We intend to post this summary along with new versions of the Catalog of Fishes at http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp.

Species included: We include only available species-group names, and exclude names that are technically unavailable for use. Very few subspecies are described in current literature, and we treat them as available names at the species level. However, we do not treat the status of subspecies as such, only as synonyms at the species level. So our counts are valid species as recognized in the current literature. We assume that all new species described in the last 10-15 years are valid, unless status references show they are synonyms. There are many unplaced available names, especially from the 1800s and early 1900s. Our experience shows that nearly all are synonyms.

Arrangement of the Table: The classification is the one used in the Catalog of Fishes database. The first column shows the available species-group names for the family (and for subfamilies if used). In characid fishes, only some subfamilies are recognized. In characid and cyprinid fishes, only some subfamilies are recognized. We have distinguished what we term as "mature" families from those that are actively experiencing the publication of new taxa. We do this by showing the number of new taxa described in the last 10 years (1999 through 2008). For example, nearly all catfish families in the tropics illustrate "active" families, with many new species being described, This applies especially to the Loricariidae with 138 new species in the last ten years. Cypriniform families also show much activity. Many marine families, on the other hand are mature; for example, no new lamniform sharks have been described in the last 10 years. The new species of fishes are in a few marine families, such as gobioids and Scyliorhinidae, and some reef groups and a few deep-sea families. Most new taxa are freshwater ones from South America and southeastern Asia. Because some species are not yet assigned to a subfamily, the total species listed in subfamilies may be less than the total for that family.

Table 2 illustrates the new species described in the last 20 years. The increase in recent years is due to more workers and more funding (such as the Catfish All-Species and Cyprinid All-species NSF grants), along with increased exploration in some countries.

Finally, our data show that the number of available names for use at the species level at the end of 2008 is 55,851 and the number of valid species at the end of 2008 is 30,959.

If you desire to cite this presentation, use W. N. Eschmeyer and J. D. Fong 2009. Species of Fishes by family/subfamily. On-line version dated dd mmm yyyy. http://research.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/SpeciesByFamily.asp

Copyright: and , 2009.