A Note on Three Collections of Cyprinodontid Fishes Housed in the British Museum of Natural History, Including Syntypes and Historically Important Specimens

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings Number 50 (October 2008) 10-1-2008 A Note on Three Collections of Cyprinodontid Fishes Housed in the British Museum of Natural History, Including Syntypes and Historically Important Specimens Royal D. Suttkus James D. Williams Follow this and additional works at: http://trace.tennessee.edu/sfcproceedings Part of the Marine Biology Commons Recommended Citation Suttkus, Royal D. and Williams, James D. (2008) "A Note on Three Collections of Cyprinodontid Fishes Housed in the British Museum of Natural History, Including Syntypes and Historically Important Specimens," Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings: No. 50. Available at: http://trace.tennessee.edu/sfcproceedings/vol1/iss50/5 This Original Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact . A Note on Three Collections of Cyprinodontid Fishes Housed in the British Museum of Natural History, Including Syntypes and Historically Important Specimens This original research article is available in Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings: http://trace.tennessee.edu/sfcproceedings/ vol1/iss50/5 SFC PROCEEDINGS No. 50 A Note on Three Collections of Cyprinodontid Fishes Housed in the British Museum of Natural History, Including Syntypes and Historically Important Specimens ROYAL D. SUTTKUS1 AND JAMES D. WILLIAMS2 1Tulane University Museum of Natural History Belle Chasse, LA 70037 2Florida Museum of Natural History Museum Road and Newell Drive University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 corresponding author: ABSTRACT We reveal the presence of three North American cyprinodontids in the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH) that have been overlooked by some authors of recent ichthyological literature. Brief descriptions are given of the three specimens and comparisons are made with recently collected material. The BMNH specimen of Cyprinodon elegans is a syntype, the specimen of C. gibbosus (= C. variegatus), although not a type, is of historical importance, and the C. mydrus (= Floridichthys carpio) specimen was collected by Silas Stearns and we believe should be considered as a syntype. INTRODUCTION After the termination of the Great International Fisheries Exhibition at London in 1883 many fishes were donated to the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH). Two hundred sixty three entries, comprising 292 fish specimens were recorded in their catalog of fishes. The following statement was recorded in the BMNH catalog at the beginning of these cataloged specimens: “Received from the Smithsonian Institution. Number attached to specimens (see catalogue of Coll. of Fishes exhibited by the U.S. Nat. Mus. by T. H. Bean. Washington 1883)”. Many of the specimens bear metal tags that exhibit the United States National Museum (USNM) catalog numbers. One of us (RDS) borrowed 20 specimens of North American fishes that had been donated to the BMNH after the termination of the Great International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883. Among the 20 specimens were 3 cyprinodontids: Cyprinodon elegans BMNH 1883.12.14.198 (ex USNM 21321), Comanche Springs N. Rio Grande, J. H. Clark; C. gibbosus BMNH 1883.12.14.197 (ex USNM 30758), Pensacola, Florida, Silas Stearns, with metal tag 30758 tied to specimen; and C. mydrus BMNH 1883.12.14.196 (ex USNM 31931), Pensacola, Florida, Silas Stearns, with metal tag 31931 tied to specimen. These 3 cyprinodontids, plus the remaining 17 specimens on loan, were examined in some detail during April of 1976 before being returned to the BMNH. We also examined five males and five females of recently collected C. elegans, C. variegatus, and Floridichthys carpio for comparison with the three BMNH specimens. We include here morphometric and collection data for these Tulane University (TU) specimens that were used for the comparison. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the existence of these specimens, none of which has been mentioned in any recent literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used the following materials for comparison with the BMNH specimens: 1. C. elegans TU 97090 (73, 30-49 mm); Texas, Reeves County, irrigation ditch below San Solomon Springs; 18 November 1971; Anthony A. Echelle and Michael M. Stevenson; 2. C. variegatus TU 77544 (120, 22-50 mm); Louisiana, St. Bernard Parish, Chandeleur Islands; isolated pools near Monkey Bayou about 50 yards from open beach, about six miles south of Redfish Point; 22 January 1971; Anthony Laska and John Van Conner; and 3. F. carpio TU 44002 (31, 19-52 mm) Florida, Monroe County, Atlantic Ocean at Knight’s Key near Marathon; 4 March 1967; RDS 4095; R. D. Suttkus, Glenn H. Clemmer, Kenneth Relyea, and Ichthyology Class. 19 October 2008 Suttkus and Williams – Cyprinodontid Fishes in the British Museum RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Cyprinodon elegans Baird and Girard 1853 Baird and Girard’s 1853 description of C. elegans is rather brief, however, Girard (1859) subsequently provided additional information. Besides the brief general description, including color, fin ray counts, and general locality (Rio Grande del Norte), Girard added some specifics, plus illustrations of a male and female. His list of specimens included two USNM catalog numbers: Cat. No. 686 (21 specimens), Comanche Springs, Rio Grande del Norte (Rio Bravo), collected 1851, Col. J. D. Graham, alcoholic specimens, John H. Clark, collector and Cat. No. 687 (11 specimens), Comanche Springs, Rio Grande del Norte (Rio Bravo), collected 1851, Col. J. D. Graham, alcoholic specimens, John H. Clark, collector. According to Eschmeyer (1998), Cat. No. 686 was re-cataloged as USNM 21320 and Cat. No. 687 was re-cataloged as USNM 21321, thus BMNH 1883.12.14.198 is a syntype of C. elegans. The BMNH specimen is 39.5 mm SL with dorsal rays 11; anal rays 10; pectoral fin rays 16-16; pelvic fin rays 6-6; caudal rays branched plus two, 16; and lateral scales 28. The ten (five males, five females) recently collected C. elegans (TU 97090) had the following counts: dorsal rays 10 (2) and 11 (8); anal rays 10 (3) and 11 (7); pectoral rays, left side only 15 (2) and 16 (8); pelvic rays 6-6 (1), 7-5 (1), 7-7 (7), and one female without pelvic fins; caudal rays, branched plus two 15 (5) and 16 (5); and lateral scales 26 (2) and 27 (8). Of the twelve morphometrics compared between the BMNH specimen and the ten TU specimens, six measurements for the BMNH specimen were outside the ranges of the TU specimens: dorsal origin to snout, dorsal origin to caudal base, head width, caudal peduncle depth, dorsal fin depressed length, and anal fin depressed length (Table 1). A sketch made during the April 1976 examination of the BMNH specimen (by RDS) shows a black marginal band on the caudal fin and the description of contact organs on the (...truncated)