Aim:The disjunct distributions of freshwater organisms along coastal drainages are usually explained by palaeodrainages formed during sea-level retreats that connected currently isolated basins, or by river capture from tectonic adjustments between adjoining watersheds. We evaluate the relative importance of these events on the genetic variation of freshwater fishes inhabiting the Serra do Mar in eastern Brazil, a region with steep mountains and pronounced bays.Location: Coastal river drainages in southeastern Brazil.Taxon: Catfishes of the Trichomycterus alternatus group. Methods:We tested the effects of palaeolandscape connections (GIS-reconstructed palaeodrainages and putative river captures) on the genetic structure (mitochondrial and nuclear markers) of T. alternatus from 15 drainages using phylogenetic reconstructions, lineage delimitation methods and analyses of molecular variance. Results:Trichomycterus alternatus is monophyletic and comprised of three main lineages: two restricted to the basin at its northernmost distribution and another broadly distributed to the south. In the latter, seven major cytb clades were geographically compatible with the eight palaeodrainages, with three incongruences matching river captures previously described for the Guanabara Bay (GB). Shared haplotypes among isolated rivers flowing into GB provide the first molecular evidence of the 'Rio de Janeiro' palaeoriver.Main conclusions: Dispersal via palaeorivers is an important process, but it is not enough to recover the most recent dispersive events. Therefore, integrating both

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large‐scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications.

This paper reports on a new species of Trichomycterus from the Rio Doce basin. Unusually for new taxa in the genus during the past few decades, the new species is not narrowly endemic but instead widely distributed in its major drainage, the Rio Doce. The species has been collected and deposited in scientific collections for some years, but has been systematically misidentified as the more abundant Trichomycterus immaculatus or, to a lesser degree, as other morphologically similar species from southeastern Brazil such as T. nigricans and T. pradensis. A combination of several morphological characteristics, such as vertebral number, pectoral-fin ray counts, pigmentation pattern and barcoding distance, were iteratively used and unambiguously distinguish the new species from all congeners. The present case reveals a pattern of diversity-discovery in which rare and narrowly endemic morphologically conspicuous species are discovered and described before visually inconspicuous taxa, even when the latter are more abundant and widespread. The morphological similarities among southeastern Brazilian species with a uniform dark-grey color serve as basis for a brief discussion about the concepts of cryptic and pseudo-cryptic species in Trichomycterus and their consequences for potentially hidden diversity in the genus.

Etnoherpetologia visa compreender o conhecimento popular associado a anfíbios e répteis. A relação dos humanos com o meio é construída desde a infância, quando se inicia o processo de interação com o mundo. Este conhecimento intrínseco reforçado pelo senso comum é construído ao longo do tempo e pode perpetuar explicações simplistas ou errôneas de processos biológicos que não são compreendidos sem conhecimento científico. Com isso, o presente estudo investigou os saberes populares de alunos de uma escola rural e uma urbana acerca das serpentes. A pesquisa foi conduzida durante o segundo semestre de 2019 entre alunos do 6º ano, pois ainda não estudaram zoologia no ambiente escolar. Foram investigados 52 alunos de escolas do estado do Espírito Santo, sendo 27 de uma escola rural de Santa Teresa e 25 de escola urbana de Cariacica. Constatou-se que todos os alunos compreendem que a principal prática de primeiros socorros em acidentes ofídicos é conduzir a vítima ao hospital. Porém, foram preocupantes as menções de métodos perigosos e caseiros. Foi verificado um grande percentual de alunos cujas experiências de encontro com as serpentes envolveram matança do animal, principalmente na zona rural, onde os encontros foram mais comuns. Apenas alunos que nunca tiveram contato com serpentes não cogitaram a matança como atitude primária a ser tomada. Atividades educativas são importantes iniciativas para minimizar as ameaças sofridas pelas serpentes, visto que ainda despertam sentimentos de medo e repulsa, tornando-as mais suscetíveis a injúrias antrópicas, mesmo quando não conferem qualquer ameaça.

(1) Background: Trichomycterinae represent 60% of the species in the family and, while seven genera comprise 1–3 species each, Trichomycterus and Cambeva have over 180 known species between them. Although integrative studies aimed to clarify the relationships within the subfamily, the diversity of species of Trichomycterus remains an open question. Herein, we explored an unprecedented sample to investigate the divergence in the lineages of Trichomycterus. (2) Methods: we recovered the phylogenetic relationships of the subfamily using 566 sequences (999 bp) of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b, calculated intra- and intergroup distance percentages, and estimated divergence times. (3) Results: we recovered 13 highly supported and geographically structured lineages; intergenus divergence was 11–20%, while interspecies divergence was 3–11%; Trichomycterus, Cambeva, Scleronema, Hatcheria, Eremophilus, and Ituglanis were recovered as monophyletic, with three other highly divergent clades: Guiana Shield, Magdalena basin, and Tapajós basin. (4) Conclusions: We propose that the trans-Andean austral clades be allocated into Hatcheria, and the Guiana clade supports a new genus. We also observed that the headwaters nearest the Magdalena and Orinoco basins showed a high diversity and endemism of Trichomycterinae lineages. We discussed the role of geomorphological events and the climatic features which may explain cladogenesis events in Trichomycterinae.