Freshwater fishes of the Rio de la Plata: current assemblage structure

Few studies have addressed the composition of fish assemblages of the freshwater Rio de la Plata (RdlP) and have only been limited to species lists gathered over the last two centuries. As such inventories have never been reviewed or validated by fish sampling, the richness and structure of RdlP fish assemblage are poorly known. Hence, we conducted an exhaustive literature review and a fieldwork in six coastal points of Argentina to update the species composition and determine the hierarchical structure of the fish assemblage. From the 206 species registered in the literature, 48 were not confirmed, 13 were absent, five were taken as synonymized species, 29 were supported by literature and 107 were confirmed; one was an established exotic species, and three were a non-established exotic species. The findings reported here suggest that the fish assemblage currently comprises 141 species, including four new records. Analysis of fieldwork data in number and weight of fish captured resulted in an assemblage hierarchical structure of five dominant, 22 frequent, and 45 rare species; 16 dominant, 11 frequent, and 45 rare taxa, respectively. These results could be used as baseline to monitor, manage, and preserve neotropical fish species in their southern distribution boundary.

Automated summary

Few studies have been conducted on the fish assemblages of Rio de la Plata, and the existing species lists have not been validated. We conducted a comprehensive literature review and fieldwork to update the species composition and hierarchical structure of the fish assemblage. The findings provide valuable information for monitoring and preserving neotropical fish species in their southern distribution boundary.