A systematic revision of the genus Archocentrus (Perciformes: Cichlidae), with the description of two new genera and six new species. Author Juan J. Schmitter-Soto text Zootaxa 2007 1603 1 78 http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AFFCB590-1FC7-4CD0-950C-D1D1A6E59F6C journal article z01603p001 AFFCB590-1FC7-4CD0-950C-D1D1A6E59F6C [[ Genus Archocentrus Gill ]] The cichlid fish genus Archocentrus was originally proposed as a subgenus of Heros Heckel by Gill (in Gill & Bransford 1877 ), and later treated as an informal “section” of Cichlasoma Swainson in Regan’s (1905) revision of the genus. The generic status of Cichlasoma sensu Regan (1905) , encompassing more than 100 species, has been in a state of uncertainty since Kullander’s (1983) restriction of Cichlasoma sensu stricto to 12 South American species. Of the many remaining groups of species formerly referred to Cichlasoma , those referred to Archocentrus have been among the strongest candidates for recognition as a monophyletic group (e.g. Miller 1993 , Miller et al. 2005 ). Species assigned to Archocentrus are major components of the neotropical Central American ichthyofauna from southern Mexico to Panama, occurring across all the ichthyolimnological provinces of Bussing (1976) , but the monophyly of the genus has not been explicitly demonstrated and its species composition has been far from clear. Since a comprehensive analysis of Cichlasoma sensu lato appeared unlikely, Kullander (1996) advocated the provisional use of available generic names, a procedure that some workers had already adopted. Kullander himself (1983), Stiassny (1991) , and Miller (1993) had earlier recommended that the use of ‘ Cichlasoma ’- with the quotation marks indicating its informality - would prevent further confusion. Because the systematics of all species previously referred to Cichlasoma had not yet been completely resolved, Nelson et al. (2004: 151-153) chose the conservative approach and tentatively referred all species to Cichlasoma in the most recent checklist of fishes for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Several species have been assigned to Archocentrus more or less consistently in the literature (Table 1). Allgayer (2001) restricted Archocentrus to include the two largest species ( Ar. centrarchus and Ar. spinosissimus ), and referred six others to a new genus, Cryptoheros (type species, Cr. spilurus ), which also included the new species Cr. altoflavus . Other species that have sometimes been assigned to Archocentrus (Table 1) include: Heros octofasciatus , though more frequently placed in incertae sedis; H. citrinellus , albeit demonstrated by Roe et al. (1997) to be an Amphilophus ; H. multispinosus , generally considered in the monotypic genus Herotilapia ; and Neetroplus panamensis , variously included in Archocentrus (in Kullander 2003 ), Theraps (in Eschmeyer 2001 ), or Hypsophrys (in Bussing 1998 ). TABLE 1. Valid and nominal species once or currently included in Archocentrus . Authorship, year of description, orthography, and present status or name, after Eschmeyer 2005 , except for changes proposed or supported in this work.
Basonym Author and year Included in Archocentrus by: Present status or name
Heros spilurus Guenther , 1862 Regan 1908 Cryptoheros spilurus
Heros citrinellus Guenther , 1864 Farias et al. 2000 Amphilophus citrinellus
Heros basilaris Gill, 1877 Synonym of A. citrinellus
Heros multispinosus Guenther , 1867 Regan 1908 Archocentrus multispinosus
Heros nigrofasciatus Guenther , 1867 Regan 1908 Amatitlania nigrofasciata
Cichlasoma (Archocentrus) centrarchum Gill, 1877 Original author Archocentrus centrarchus
Heros spinosissimus Vaillant & Pellegrin, 1902 Regan 1908 Archocentrus spinosissimus
Heros octofasciatus Regan, 1903 Regan 1908 Rocio octofasciata
Cichlasoma hedricki Meek, 1904 Synonym of R. octofasciata
Cichlasoma spinosissimum var. immaculatum Pellegrin, 1904 Regan 1908 Synonym of Cr. spilurus
Cichlasoma granadense Meek, 1907 Synonym of Am. citrinellus
Cichlasoma septemfasciatum Regan, 1908 Loiselle 1997 Cryptoheros septemfasciatus
Cichlosoma biocellatum Regan, 1909 Synonym of R. octofasciata
Neetroplus panamensis Meek & Hildebrand, 1913 Kullander 2003 Cryptoheros panamensis
Cichlasoma cutteri Fowler, 1932 Cryptoheros cutteri
Cichlasoma sajica Bussing, 1974 Bussing 1998 Cryptoheros sajica
Archocentrus nanoluteus Allgayer, 1994 Original author Cryptoheros nanoluteus
Archocentrus myrnae Loiselle, 1997 Original author Cryptoheros myrnae
Cryptoheros altoflavus Allgayer, 2001 Kullander 2003 Valid
To complicate things further, variation within some Archocentrus species has not been evaluated before. Hubbs (1936) observed tantalizing meristic and morphometric differences among populations of Cichlasoma octofasciatum , but he chose not to describe any subspecies because, in his material, geographic differences were confounded with differences in body size. Considering the potential for undetected biodiversity within presently recognized species, especially those more widely distributed, lectotypes are designated in the present work: Amatitlania nigrofasciata , Archocentrus spinosissimus , Cryptoheros septemfasciatus , Cr. spilurus , and Rocio octofasciata . Cichlasoma immaculatum is shown to be a synonym of Cryptoheros spilurus and not of Archocentrus spinosissimus , although it was first described as a “variety” of the latter. The present revision treats all nominal species ever assigned to the genus Archocentrus , as well as species that have appeared in the same clade as (or as sister group to) Archocentrus centrarchus in relevant phylogenetic analyses ( Roe et al. 1997 , Martin & Bermingham 1998 , Farias et al. 2000 ). Six new species are described and a seventh is resurrected from synonymy. Archocentrus , Cryptoheros , and Hypsophrys are redefined, and two new genera ( Amatitlania and Rocio ) are diagnosed. Genus-level decisions in this work are supported by a phylogeny (Schmitter-Soto, in press), published separately, which includes most character illustrations and analysis.