Biogeographical revision of Argentina (Andean and Neotropical Regions): an analysis using freshwater fishes.

LÓPEZ, H. L.; MENNI, R. C; DONATO & A. M. MIQUELARENA

JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY

Blackwell

Lugar: Edimburgo; Año: 2007

0305-0270

Aim. To provide an objective geographic framework displaying patterns of distribution of the freshwater fishes from Argentina.   Location. Argentina, southern South America   Methods. Parsimony analysis of endemicity and similarity and cluster analysis.   Results. Five ichthyogeographic provinces are established and areas of endemism are deduced from parsimony analysis of endemicity based on species composition of 52 localities. Cluster analysis provided similar results.   Main conclusions. The following zoogeographic provinces are proposed for Argentine freshwater fish fauna: Andean Cuyan, Patagonian, Aymaran, Great Rivers and Pampean. The former two are placed within the Andean Subregion of the Austral Region, and the later three within the Neotropical Subregion of the Holotropical Region. These provinces are based on coincident results of PAE and cluster analyses, being the first scheme based on objective methods. Endemic species for four of the provinces were identified. Some small regions of endemism and some localities remain separated from the proposed regions. The new scheme involves valuable empirical information from previous ones, agreeing with ecological zones and other environmental arrangements earlier proposed.   Keywords. Areas of endemism, Argentina, ichthyogeographic Provinces, limnology, Neotropics, parsimony analysis of endemicity, similarity analysis.