Revalidation of the Argentinian pouched lamprey Geotria macrostoma (Burmeister, 1868) with molecular and morphological evidence

DIEGO BARRASSO; BAIGÚN, CLAUDIO; CARLA RIVA-ROSSI; QUIROGA, ANALÍA PAMELA; CINDY BAKER; NÉSTOR BASSO

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2019 vol. 15

1932-6203

The Argentinian pouched lamprey, classified as Petromyzon macrostomus Burmeister, 1868 was first described in 1867 in De La Plata River, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and subsequently recorded in several rivers from Patagonia. Since its original description, the validity of P. macrostomus was questioned by several ichthyologists and 36 years after its original discovery it was considered a junior synonym of Geotria australis Gray, 1851. For a long time, the taxonomic status of G. australis has been uncertain, largely due to the misinterpretations of the morphological alterations that occur during sexual maturation, including the arrangement of teeth, size and position of fins and cloaca, and the development of an exceptionally large gular pouch in males. In this study, the taxonomic status of Geotria from across the ?species? range was evaluated using both molecular analysis and examination of morphological characteristics.