South American galaxiids occupy both Patagonia and the ichthyogeographic Chilean Province, encompassing glacial Andean deep lakes, shallow plateau lakes, reservoirs, short Pacific rivers and long Atlantic rivers. The total fish fauna includes 29 species, comprising Neotropical fishes (siluriforms and characids), galaxiids, percichthyids, atherinopsids and mugilids, two lamprey species, and several exotic fishes (salmonids, Gambusia spp. and common carp). The family Galaxiidae shares a common ancestry with the Gondwanan temperate fish fauna, played a major role in the post-glacial colonization of Andean lakes and streams, and contributes key species to the food webs. Galaxiid species occupy an enormous latitudinal gradient, show a wide variety of life history patterns and are the southernmost native freshwater fishes of the world. Knowledge of South American galaxiids has improved notably, but new challenges arise due to climate change, biological invasions, damming, aquaculture and contamination. In this changing environment, the future of South American galaxiids should be carefully considered as a legacy of the old Gondwana and a unique attribute of the freshwaters of southern South America.

This study reports the phenotypic and genetic differences between individuals of puyen Galaxias maculatus from two sites in the same river basin in Tierra del Fuego National Park, southern South America. Individuals from the two sampling sites presented morphometric and genetic differences. The morphometric differences indicated that individuals from Laguna Negra (LN) were short and more robust and had large eyes, whereas those from Arroyo Negro (AN) were thin and elongated and had small eyes. Genetic differences showed that AN individuals had a greater genetic structuration and an older demographic history than LN individuals. The results of this study affirmed that the individuals from the two sampling sites belong to different populations with a high degree of isolation. The demographic history could indicate that the individuals of G. maculatus which migrated to northern areas during the last glaciation settled in the Beagle Channel after its formation. The LN population could have originated after the retreat of the glaciers, migrating from AN.

Lampreys are jawless fishes belonging to the order Petromyzontiformes. Geotria australis is the sole representative lamprey species of the Geotriidae family and is widely distributed around South America, Australia, New Zealand, and sub-Antarctic Islands. In South America, the presence and distribution of G. australis are well characterized in Western Patagonia, in rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean. In contrast, there is scarce information about the presence of this species in Eastern Patagonia, in rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Here, we provide the first report on the distribution of lamprey at the extreme south of Patagonia and suggest the occurrence of a new lamprey species. We developed an environmental DNA (eDNA) method to detect G. australis from water samples and obtained positive results in five basins flowing into the Atlantic Ocean and one river basin flowing into the Beagle Channel. Lampreys were captured from two eDNA-positive basins and used for genetic analysis. An 875 bp-sequence of the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene was obtained, and a phylogenetic analysis was carried out with this sequence and those available in GenBank, revealing Argentinean lamprey reported here, as a sister species of G. australis from Chile, Australia, and New Zealand. Also, the genetic distance values between lamprey reported here and G. australis were consistent with the genetic distances between species of different genera. Our results suggest that the Argentinean lamprey corresponds to a new specific taxon that could represent a new monotypic genus in Geotriidae.

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