Unravelling the taxonomy of an interstitial fish radiation: Three new species of Gouania (Teleostei: Gobiesocidae) from the Mediterranean Sea and redescriptions of G. willdenowi and G. pigra.
The clingfish (Gobiesocidae) genus Gouania Nardo, 1833 is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and inhabits, unlike any other vertebrate species in Europe, the harsh intertidal environment of gravel beaches. Following up on a previous phylogenetic study, we revise the diversity and taxonomy of this genus by analysing a comprehensive set of morphological (meristics, morphometrics, microcomputed tomography imaging), geographical and genetic (DNA-barcoding) data. We provide descriptions of three new species, G. adriatica sp. nov., G. orientalis sp. nov. and G. hofrichteri sp. nov., as well as redescriptions of G. willdenowi (Risso, 1810) and G. pigra (Nardo, 1827) and assign neotypes for the latter two species. In addition to elucidating the complex taxonomic situation of Gouania, we discuss the potential of this enigmatic clingfish genus for further ecological, evolutionary and biodiversity studies that might unravel even more diversity in this unique Mediterranean fish radiation.
['Wagner|Maximilian|M|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0949-8410', 'Kovačić|Marcelo|M|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-9366', 'Koblmüller|Stephan|S|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1024-3220']
D063147:Animal Distribution D000818:Animals D044822:Biodiversity D002965:Classification D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic D005060:Europe D005399:Fishes D008522:Mediterranean Sea D010802:Phylogeny D013045:Species Specificity D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
intertidal DNA-barcoding blunt-snouted clingfish cryptobenthic fish pebble beach