Revisão sistemática das espécies do gênero Achirus Lacépède, 1802 (Pleuronectiformes: Archiridae) do Atlântico Ocidental.

Abstract

The genus Achirus Lacépède, 1802 is anphiamerican, occurring in marine, estuarine and fresh waters. In Brazil, the species of this genus are known as linguado, sóia, solha, tapa and aramaçá. As other Achiridae, they are carnivores, eating fishes and benthonic invertebrates. As most of Achiridae, they are eurihaline, tending to adopt a marine-estuarine (A. lineatus, ex.), estuarine-freshwater (A. achirus, ex.) and freshwater-estuarine life, the only species with this behavior being A. novoae, which occurs from high portions of the Orinico basin to areas around the delta. Nineteen nominal species are referred to the genus Achirus, eight of them considered valid. This work has the object of deal a taxonomic review of the Western Atlantic species of Achirus. Morphometrics and meristics data of 450 specimens were taken, including that of known type specimens. All the four species occurring in Western Atlantic were considered: Achirus achirus, A. declivis, A. lineatus, A. novoae. Redescriptions reconstruction of synonymies and clarification of geographic distributions of these species are presented. A fifth species of the genus, whose description was recently submitted to the publication by other authors, was included in this work. An identification key for the Western Atlantic Achirus species is provided.