Cybium 36(1), Fishes of the Guianas: scientific advances and future prospects for a highly diversified fauna

Author(s)

Raphaël Covain & Sonia Fisch-Muller (Editors)

Abstract / Preface

The Guianas represent the main topic of the present issue, and our aim is to provide an overview of the most up to date knowledge of Guianese ichthyology. For this, we have adopted a multidisciplinary approach, to benefit from the expertise of most specialists working in the region. The diversity of topics covered in this special issue of Cybium proves the importance of this region for the scientific community, and the dynamism of research focussing on Guianese fishes. From fisheries management in the Cabo Orange National Park on the Oyapock River (de Figueiredo Silva et al.) to the influence of the Rupununi portal in the distribution of fishes in the Essequibo region (de Souza et al.), we have covered the whole region (which includes French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana) from different perspectives.
Ecological aspects are tackled in a state of the art review of fish-habitat relationships in French Guiana (de Mérona et al.) and in a field study focussing on a recently collected freshwater pipefish in the Corantijn River in Suriname (Mol). Studies of poorly known taxa are also presented (Covain et al.; Fisch-Muller et al.; Lundberg et al.; Sidlauskas and Vari; Weber et al.), and many new species are described (Covain et al.; Fisch-Muller et al.; Kullander; Vari et al.). Phylogenetic aspects are tackled in the revalidation of genera typical of the Guianese region (Covain and Fisch-Muller) or in the phylogenetic placement of a rare species (Lundberg et al.). Methodological approaches such as multivariate analyses, multi-tables, DNA barcoding, skeletochronological and phylogenetic methods, all transferable to different fields, are also included to engage a wider audience for this special issue (Covain et al.; Covain and Fisch-Muller; Fisch-Muller et al.; Meunier; Weber et al.). Finally, the global diversity of the fish fauna of French Guiana and Suriname is assessed in two updated checklists synthesizing all the available information concerning species diversity and distribution in these two countries (Le Bail et al.; Mol et al.).