We report, for the first time, the occurrence of the muzzled blenny,Omobranchus punctatus, on the coast of São Paulo, South-Eastern Brazil, partially filling a record gap within the species’ expected distribution in Brazil. One individual was found on 16 June 2014 in a sand-bottom tide pool of a tidal flat ecosystem, adjacent to the port of São Sebastião.

The identification of fish species using otolith shape has been common in many fields of the marine science. Different analytical processes can be applied for the morphological discrimination, but reviewing the literature we have found conceptual and statistical limitations in the use of shape indices and wavelets (contour analysis), being specially worrying in the first case due to their widespread routine use. In the present study, 42 species were classified using otolith shape indices and wavelets and applying traditional and machine learning classifiers and performance measures (accuracy, Cohen’s kappa statistic, sensitivity and precision). Our results were conclusive, wavelets were a more adequate option for the classification of species than shape indices, independently of classifiers and performance measures considered. The artificial neural network and support vector machine provided the highest values for all performance measures using wavelets. In all cases, the measures of sensitivity and precision pointed out a higher confusion between some otolith patterns using shape indices. Therefore, we strongly discourage the routine use of shape indices for the identification of species.

A B S T R A C TThe drawings, detailed pictures, precise descriptions and measurements that characterize otoliths must be made available for studies in various areas, including taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology, fisheries, paleontology, diversity, predator-prey relationships and modeling. The Collection of Teleostei Fish Otoliths of Southeastern-Southern Brazil (COSS-Brasil) of IOUSP contains 45,000 pairs of otoliths from 210 species. This publication is the first in a series that will constitute an atlas of Teleostei otoliths for southeastern-southern Brazil and presents the results of the morphologic and morphometric analyses of 11 Gadiformes and 36 Perciformes species by means of the most commonly used features, measurements and indices. Three otoliths of each species were illustrated and photographed whenever possible. The frequency of occurrence was calculated for each characteristic by total length classes (TL), and the ontogenetic differences were analyzed (multiple χ2 test; significance 0.05). Morphometric analyses were conducted for each characteristic per total length (TL) class and for the whole sample, and the ontogenetic differences were analyzed. R E S U M OA disponibilidade de desenhos, fotos detalhadas, descrições precisas e medidas que caracterizem os otólitos são ferramentas imprescindíveis para diversas áreas: taxonomia, filogenia, ecologia, pesca, paleontologia, diversidade, relações presa/predador e modelagem. Da Coleção de Otólitos de Peixes Teleósteos da Região Sudeste-Sul do Brasil (COSS-Brasil), IOUSP, constam quarenta e cinco mil pares relativos a 210 espécies. Esta publicação é a primeira de uma série que constituirá um atlas de otólitos para Teleostei da região sudeste-sul brasileira e apresenta os resultados de análises morfológicas e morfométricas de 11 espécies de Gadiformes e 36 de Perciformes das medidas e índices usualmente realizados. Foram desenhados e fotografados três otólitos de cada espécie sempre que possível. A frequência de ocorrência foi calculada por classes de comprimento total (TL) e para toda a amostra, e diferenças ontogenéticas foram analisadas.

This work reports the second record of the Indo-Paciic invasive mud sleeper, Butis koilomatodon, for coastal São Paulo in southeastern Brazil, and represents the southernmost record for this species in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The risks of a potential invasion mediated by anthropogenic impacts on the area of occurrence are also discussed.