REGISTROS DE LORICARIIDAE (TELEOSTEI, SILURIFORMES) NO RIO VERDE, MATO GROSSO DO SUL, BACIA DO ALTO RIO PARANÁ

Abstract

The family Loricariidae is the most diverse among freshwater Siluriformes in the Neotropical region, with 1,241 valid species recorded. They are characterized by the body covered with bony plates and a ventrally positioned, sucker-shaped mouth. In the upper Paraná River basin, 75 native species are registered. In this study, we present the list of Loricariidae species recorded so far in the Rio Verde basin, a right-bank tributary of the Paraná River, based on material deposited in the Ichthyological Collection of Três Lagoas (CITL) or stored in the Ichthyology Laboratory of UFMS/Três Lagoas Campus, as well as records in ichthyological collections available through the SpeciesLink platform. A total of 20 species were recorded, belonging to the subfamilies Hypostominae (14 species), Loricariinae (3), and Hypoptopomatinae (3). Most are native to the upper Paraná River basin, with the exception of four species. In the UFMS specimens, mean total length ranged from 2.8 to 46.7 cm, with the largest sizes corresponding to Hypostominae. Two species were identified only to the genus (Hypostomus), one of them possibly a new species. The specimens occurred in rivers and streams of the basin, with only one capture in a marginal lake, confirming the preference of the species for lotic environments and firm substrate. None of the recorded species is currently at risk of extinction according to ICMBio; however, attention is drawn to the risk that anthropic activities causing siltation, destruction of riparian vegetation, or changes in the hydrodynamics of rivers and streams may negatively affect the maintenance of Loricariidae species in the basin. The results obtained reinforce the need for new surveys in order to expand knowledge about the abundance of species of the family in the Rio Verde basin, in addition to highlighting the importance of ichthyological collections for documenting species records.