Neotropical fish

The freshwater fish of tropical South and Central America, represent one of the most diverse and extreme aquatic ecosystems on Earth, with more than 5,600 species, representing about 10% all living vertebrate species.

The exceptional diversity of species, adaptations, and life histories observed in the Neotropical ichthyofauna has been the focus of numerous books and scientific papers, especially the wonderfully complex aquatic ecosystems of the Amazon Basin and adjacent river basins (e.g., Goulding and Smith, 1996; Araujo-Lima and Goulding, 1997; Barthem and Goulding, 1997; Barthem, 2003; Goulding et al., 2003).

[3] The Neotropical ichthyofauna extends throughout the continental waters of Central and South America, from south of the Mesa Central in southern Mexico (~ 16° N) to the La Plata estuary in northern Argentina (~ 34° S).

The fishes of this region are largely restricted to the humid tropical portions of the Neotropical realm as circumscribed by Sclater (1858) and Wallace (1876), being excluded from the arid Pacific slopes of Peru and northern Chile, and the boreal regions of the Southern Cone in Chile and Argentina (Arratia, 1997; Dyer, 2000).

The vast Neotropical ichthyofaunal region extends over more than 17 million square km of moist tropical lowland forests, seasonally flooded wetlands and savannahs, and also several arid peripheral regions (e.g., Northwest Venezuela; Northeast Brazil; Chaco of Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia).