Abstract. - Western Atlantic 

 tonguefishes of the Sympkurus plagu- 

 sia (Schneider, in Bloch and Schnei- 

 der 1801) complex are distinguished 

 from other Atlantic Sympkurus spe- 

 cies by the possession of 12 caudal 

 fin rays, a 1-4-3 pattern of interdigi- 

 tation of dorsal-fin pterygiophores 

 and neural spines, absence of a pupil- 

 lary operculum, reduced or absent 

 dentition on ocular-side jaws, and an 

 unpigmented peritoneum. Consider- 

 able taxonomic uncertainty has been 

 associated with nominal species of 

 this complex, but the most common 

 practice has been to recognize one 

 widespread species (S. plagusia) with 

 two subspecies ranging from the Ca- 

 ribbean southward to Uruguay, and 

 a second species, S. civitatium Gins- 

 burg 1951, occurring in inshore areas 

 along the southeastern and Gulf of 

 Mexico coasts of the United States 

 and northern Mexico. The validity of 

 S. civitatium is confirmed in this 

 study. Examination of tonguefishes 

 from the Caribbean and southward 

 indicates that specimens previously 

 identified as S. plagusia do not com- 

 prise one species with two allopatric 

 subspecies, but rather four largely 

 sympatric, albeit not necessarily syn- 

 topic, species. Sympkurus plagusia, 

 the first described species in this 

 complex, occurs in inshore habitats 

 ranging from the Caribbean to Rio 

 de Janeiro. Sympkurus tessellatus 

 (Quoy and Gaimard 1824), removed 

 from the synonymy of S. plagusia, 

 occurs in nearshore, estuarine, and 

 neritic waters throughout the Carib- 

 bean southwards to Uruguay. Two 

 new species, S. oeulellus occurring in 

 neritic waters off northern South 

 America (Guyana to northern Brazil), 

 and S. caribbeanus (nearshore habi- 

 tats throughout the Caribbean), are 

 described and figured. A key to the 

 western Atlantic species of this com- 

 plex is provided. 



Western Atlantic Tonguefishes 

 of the Symphurus plagusia Complex 

 (Cynoglossidae: Pleuronectiformes), 

 with Descriptions of Two 

 New Species* 



Thomas A. Munroe 



Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 National Museum of Natural History, Washington. DC 20560 



Shallow-water symphurine tongue- 

 fishes possessing 12 caudal fin rays, 

 a 1-4-3 pattern of interdigitation of 

 dorsal pterygiophores and neural 

 spines, with reduced or absent den- 

 tition on ocular-side jaws, an unpig- 

 mented peritoneum, and lacking a 

 pupillary operculum comprise the Sym- 

 phurus plagusia (Schneider, in Bloch 

 and Schneider 1801) complex.** Five 

 western Atlantic and several eastern 

 Pacific species of tonguefishes are 

 recognized in this complex. Through- 

 out the western Atlantic, from North 

 Carolina, U.S.A., to Uruguay (Gins- 

 burg 1951, Menezes and Benvegnii 

 1976, Munroe 1987), these common- 

 ly collected tonguefishes are abun- 

 dant locally in estuarine and near- 

 shore habitats as well as on sandy or 

 muddy substrates on the inner con- 

 tinental shelf (Meek and Hildebrand 

 1928, Ginsburg 1951, Lowe-McCon- 

 nell 1962, Caldwell 1966, Cervigon 

 1966, Carvalho et al. 1968, Palacio 

 1974, Menezes and Benvegnii 1976, 

 Lema and Oliveria 1977, Lema et al. 

 1980, Munroe 1987). 



Manuscript accepted 31 December 1990. 

 Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 89:247-287(1991). 



* Contribution no. 1659 of the Virginia Insti- 

 tute of Marine Science, College of William 

 and Mary. 

 * * There is another western Atlantic tongue- 

 fish, S. playiusa (Linnaeus), completely allo- 

 patric from S. plagusia, which unfortunately 

 has a nearly identical spelling for its specific 

 epithet. It is emphasized that these are com- 

 pletely different and distinctive species that 

 should not be confused because of similar- 

 ities in their names. 



Nomenclatural uncertainty and 

 questions regarding taxonomic valid- 

 ity have been associated with these 

 western Atlantic tonguefishes since 

 the first description of a species from 

 Jamaica by Browne (1756). Much of 

 the confusion centers on species col- 

 lected in shallow waters of the Carib- 

 bean and coastal seas of Central 

 America and much of South America. 

 At least ten combinations of names 

 have been used for these tropical 

 western Atlantic, shallow-water 

 tonguefishes. 



Historically (Kaup 1858, Jordan 

 and Evermann 1898, Chabanaud 

 1949), Atlantic members of this spe- 

 cies complex were long regarded as 

 comprising populations of a single 

 widespread, polytypic species, Sym- 

 phurus plagusia. This nomenclatural 

 arrangement began with Kaup (1858) 

 and has continued to the present (Jor- 

 dan and Goss 1889, Jordan and Ever- 

 mann 1898, Ginsburg 1951, Menezes 

 and Benvegnii 1976, Rosa 1980, Lu- 

 cena and Lucena 1982). Ginsburg 

 considered the tropical western At- 

 lantic members of this complex to 

 represent two allopatric subspecies, 

 and his newly-described S. civitatium 

 with its disjunct northern distribu- 

 tion, perhaps representing a third 

 subspecies of one wide-ranging poly- 

 typic species. However, the most re- 

 cent review of Symphurus of south- 

 ern South America (Menezes and 

 Benvegnii 1976) questioned recog- 



247 



