Evidence of a landlocked reproducing population of the marine pejerrey Odontesthes argentinensis (Actinopterygii; Atherinopsidae).

COLAUTTI D.; MIRANDA L.;; GONZÁLEZ CASTRO., M.; VILLANOVA G.V.; STRÜSSMANNC.A.; MANCINI M.; MAIZTEGUI T.; BERASAIN G.; HATTORI R.S.; GROSMAN F.; SANZANO P.; LOZANO I.; LLAMAZARES VEGH S.; SALINAS V.; DEL PONTI O.; DEL FRESNO P.; MINOTTI P.; YAMAMOTO Y. & BAIGÚN C.

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2020 vol. 96 p. 202 - 216

0022-1112

In South America, the order Atheriniformes encompasses the monophyletic genus Odontesthes with species that inhabits freshwater, estuaries and coastal environments. Within this genus, there are two closely related species, O. argentinensis widely distributed in coastal and estuarine areas of the Atlantic Ocean and O. bonariensis, found in inland and mixohaline waters. Currently, there are no previous records proving that O argentinensis can develop landlocked populations. However, the pejerrey population inhabiting Salada de Pedro Luro Lake (SPL) (Southeast of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina), may represent a special case, as it cannot be classified as O. bonariensis by means of current taxonomic criteria, showing instead a phenotype closer to O. argentinensis. The goal of this study was to clarify the taxonomic identity of pejerrey inhabiting the SPL by using integrative taxonomy based on traditional meristic, landmark-based morphometrics, and genetic techniques. The results suggest that SPL pejerrey population exemplifies a noticeable case of a marine pejerrey with unique morphological characteristics and well adapted to a landlocked environment due to an unexpected environmental plasticity.