A Survey of Freshwater Fish Distribution in Tobago, West Indies

Authors

  • Ryan S. Mohammed 1. Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies 2. Environmental Research Institute of Charlotteville (ERIC)
  • Karl Phillips Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
  • Kerresha Khan Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies
  • Avi Bhagan Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, Faculty of Engineering, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago

Keywords:

tobago, fish, freshwater, distribution, survey, trinidad and tobago

Abstract

The freshwater fish of Tobago were reported by a number of researchers between 1910 and 1998 with differing species richness and diversity being listed by each. Results of the recent survey reported here serve to update this baseline. Surveys were conducted at 81 sites in Tobago over the time period 2004-2015, with observations being conducted both nocturnally and diurnally. The most widespread species was Sicydium punctatum (Gobiidae). The species with the highest abundance was Poecilia reticulata (Poeciliidae), and the rarest species was Gobiesox nudus (Gobiesocidae). Micropoecilia picta (Poeciliidae), Ctenogobius boleosoma (Gobiidae), and Synbranchus marmoratus (Synbranchidae) were documented for the first time for Tobago. The ichthyofaunal richness for this survey now stands at 13 species. The drainage with the greatest species richness was Roxborough River with nine species noted.

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Published

2015-12-31

Issue

Living World 2015

Section

Research Papers