COMENTARIOS PRELIMINARES SOBRE LOS CLINIDOS (TELEOS TEI: PERCIFORMES: CLINIDAE) DEL CARIBE COLOMBIANO

Abstract

Included is a list of the 26 clinid species known from the Colombian Caribbean. Labrisomus sp., L. albigenys, L. bucciferus, Starksia atlantica, Acanthemblemaria rwasi, Coralliozetus sp., Ekemblemaria nigra, Emblemariopsis sp. and Enneanectes sp., are new reports from the northern Caribbean coast of South America. Malacoctenus macropus and Stathmonotus stahli (subespecies tekla) are new reports from the Colombian Caribbean. The richness of species of clinid fishes of the southern Caribbean is demostrated since there are 49 species known, of which 13 are supposed to be exclusive to this zone. This restricted zoogeographical distribution is clearly shown for the chaenopsids, since one fourth of the Caribbean species are known only from the south. The genera Ekemblemaria, Coralliozetus and Protemblemaria have been speciated principally in the American Pacific and in the Caribbean next to the Isthmus of Panama.