Illustrated list of additions to the ichthyofauna of the Caura River, Venezuela

Abstract

Twenty nine species have been added to the annotated checklists of the ichthyofauna of the Caura River Basin, Guiana Shield, Venezuela. Of these, 18 were found in two floodplain lagoons in the lower Caura, corresponding to the orders Characiformes, Clupeiformes, Gymnotiformes, Siluriformes and Perciformes and one species of Tetraodontiformes in the port of Maripa. The others 11 species were found in the upper Caura, representing the orders Characiformes, Gymnotiformes and Siluriformes. Previous ichthyofaunal surveys in the Caura river Basin recorded a total of 514 species, including 150 species for the upper Caura and 492 for the lower Caura. After our recent survey the total number of fish species in the whole drainage basin increased to 543 species, of which 172 and 510 belong to the upper and lower Caura, respectively.