Rheocles

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Ovalentaria
Superordo: Atherinomorphae
Ordo: Atheriniformes
Subordo: Atherinoidei

Familia: Bedotiidae
Genus: Rheocles
Species: R. alaotrensis - R. derhami - R. lateralis - R. pellegrini - R. sikorae - R. vatosoa - R. wrightae

Name

Rheocles Jordan & Hubbs in Jordan, 1919

Gender: masculine

Type species: Eleotris sikorae Sauvage, 1891, by original designation and monotypy.
Synonyms

Rheocloides Nichols & La Monte, 1931

References

Jordan, D. S. (1919) New genera of fishes. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 70: 341–344.

Links

Rheocles – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Rheocles is a genus of Madagascar rainbowfish. Rheocles has a restricted distribution, being found only in certain forested freshwater habitats in the central and eastern highlands of Madagascar including the Nosivolo River.[1] The genus appears to feed almost exclusively on allochthonous material, primarily insects falling onto the water surface.[2]
Taxonomy

In a 1990 study, this genus is monophyletic.[2] However, in a 2004 analysis, it was found that Rheocles was paraphyletic, forming two distinct clades. R. alaotrensis, R. lateralis, and R. wrightae (all species that are not discernibly sexually dimorphic was recovered as the sister taxon of the rest of the bedotiids, including Bedotia sister to R. vatosa + R. derhami. R. pellegrini and R. sikorae were excluded from this study due to lack of available material, however, R. sikorae is considered to be the sister taxon to R. wrightae.[3]
Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[4]

Rheocles alaotrensis (Pellegrin, 1914) (Katrana)
Rheocles derhami Stiassny & D. M. Rodríguez, 2001
Rheocles lateralis Stiassny & Reinthal, 1992
Rheocles pellegrini (Nichols & La Monte, 1931)
Rheocles sikorae (Sauvage, 1891)
Rheocles vatosoa Stiassny, D. M. Rodríguez & Loiselle, 2002
Rheocles wrightae Stiassny, 1990

Description

Rheocles species are robust bedotiids with little lateral body compression.[2] R. vatosa and R. derhami are sexually dimorphic, with males exhibiting larger adult size, enhanced coloration and pigmentation, as well as pronounced development of the unpaired fins.[3]
Conservation

Its close association with forested biotopes suggests that, like so many other rainforest-adapted series, Rheocles is extremely vulnerable to deforestation pressure.[1]
References

Stiassny, Melanie L. J.; Reinthal, Peter N. (February 24, 1992). "Description of a New Species of Rheocles (Atherinomorpha, Bedotiidae) from the Nosivolo Tributary, Mangoro River, Eastern Malagasy Republic". American Museum Novitates (3301). American Museum of Natural History: 1–8. hdl:2246/4996.
Stiassny, Melanie L. J. (August 7, 1990). "Notes on the Anatomy and Relationships of the Bedotiid Fishes of Madagascar, with a Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Rheocles (Atherinomorpha: Bedotiidae)". American Museum Novitates (2979). American Museum of Natural History: 1–33. hdl:2246/5063.
Sparks, John S.; Smith, W. Leo (2004). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the Malagasy and Australasian rainbowfishes (Teleostei: Melanotaenioidei): Gondwanan vicariance and evolution in freshwater" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 33 (3): 719–734. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.07.002. PMID 15522799.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Rheocles in FishBase. June 2012 version.