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An updated, illustrated inventory of the marine fishes of the US Virgin Islands
expand article infoD. Ross Robertson‡, Carlos J. Estapé§, Allison M. Estapé§, Lee Richter|, Ernesto Peña‡, Benjamin Victor#
‡ Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
§ Unaffiliated, Islamorada, United States of America
| National Park Service, St. John, Virgin Islands (USA)
¶ Ocean Science Foundation, Irvine, United States of America
# Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, United States of America

Corresponding author: D. Ross Robertson ( robertsondr@si.edu )

Academic editor: Caleb McMahan
© 2022 D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.
Citation: Robertson DR, Estapé CJ, Estapé AM, Richter L, Peña E, Victor B (2022) An updated, illustrated inventory of the marine fishes of the US Virgin Islands. ZooKeys 1103: 79-122. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1103.83795
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F2333822-5B4F-45F4-8172-8E794AFBC316
Open Access

Abstract

The US Virgin Islands (USVI) include St. John and St. Thomas on the Puerto Rican Platform (PRP) and St. Croix, isolated by 2000 m deep water 45 km south of that platform. Previous inventories of the marine fishes of these islands include a comprehensive 2014 checklist of the fishes of St. Croix and a list of the fishes of the PRP produced in 2000. The latter list noted the locations of many records of the plateau’s fishes, allowing the construction of a combined inventory for St. John and St. Thomas. Those two islands are treated here as a single faunal unit because they are only 3.5 km apart on a shared shallow shelf with various islets and reefs in between. Here we provide updated information on those two USVI (St. Croix and St. John-Thomas) marine fish faunas. The additions to the St. Croix and St. John-Thomas inventories presented here are based on a combination of information from the two sources indicated above, more recent publications dealing with those faunas, a review of location records on various online sources of biogeographic data, and voucher photographs taken of fishes in the field by authors of this paper and other citizen scientists. This assessment increased the known fauna of St. Croix by 7.5% to 585 species. The inventory for St. John-Thomas increased by 39.9% from 401 species on the 2000 PRP list to 561 with the inclusion of records from other sources. On-site mtDNA (COI) barcodes are available for approximately one-third of the species of the St. John-Thomas fauna, but for only one species collected at St. Croix. A set of underwater photographs of 372 species (34 of them representing the sole record of a species) from St. John-Thomas and of 11 shallow-water species added to the St. Croix fauna is included. These represent occurrence vouchers and also are intended to facilitate future work that builds on the present compendium.

Keywords

Biodiversity, checklist, citizen science, DNA-barcode, photographic voucher, SCUBA survey

Introduction

The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) comprise a US territory adjacent to Puerto Rico, in the northeast Caribbean, that includes three large, inhabited islands, St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, and approximately 50 smaller islands and cays around them. The former two are situated only 3.5 km apart, in the center of the Puerto Rico Plateau (PRP), which has an area approximately twice the 9,100 km2 of Puerto Rico Island and extends ~ 150 km eastwards from Puerto Rico. St. Croix is located south of St. John and St. Thomas, on its own insular platform, which is separated by 45 km of deep water from the southern edge of the PRP.

The fish fauna of St. Croix was comprehensively reviewed by Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014), who built upon an older list by Clavijo et al. (1980), using their own extensive collections of shallow fishes of the Buck Island Reef National Monument on the northern side of St. Croix (Smith-Vaniz et al. 2006), and a review of literature and examination of specimens of fishes collected at St. Croix that are lodged in various museums. In 2000, George Dennis produced an extensive (244 page; 500+ sources cited) U.S. Geological Survey report based on collections and observational records for marine and brackish-water fish from Puerto Rico, St. John and St. Thomas, and other islands on the PRP. Although never formally published in a scientific journal, and no longer available through the USGS source cited by Dennis et al. (2004), that compendium is available online (Dennis 2000).

Here we add new information to update the 2014 list for St. Croix and assemble an inventory for St. John and St. Thomas that includes and expands on data for those two islands contained in Dennis (2000). We extracted the additional information from museum records in online sources of biogeographic data, publications produced since Dennis (2000), digital images of live fishes obtained at the USVI, plus our recent collections and mtDNA barcode records obtained from the database BOLD. The great majority of the species in this compendium are marine, plus we include a small number of species found in fresh to brackish waters.

Materials and methods

Study sites

St. Croix is a 215 km2 island in the northeast corner of the Caribbean. It is isolated by ~ 45 km of deep water from the Puerto Rican Platform (PRP). Other islands of the Lesser Antilles chain lie within ~ 150 km to the east and southeast of St. Croix. The surrounding shallow (above ~ 150 m depth) shelf of St. Croix, extending almost 20 km eastward, has approximately the same area as the island. In addition to exposed and sheltered coral reefs and soft bottoms, the island has extensive areas of seagrasses and mangroves.

St. John (area 50 km2) and St. Thomas (area 83 km2) are situated in the center of the shallow (to ~ 150 m deep) tongue of the PRP that extends 150 km eastwards from Puerto Rico. St. Thomas is closest to and 64 km from the main island of Puerto Rico. St. John and St. Thomas are separated from each other by only 3.5 km of water shallower than 20 m deep, with scattered islets and shallow reefs in between them. They have a similar range of habitats as St. Croix, with large areas of both sheltered and deeper shelf-edge coral reefs, rocky shores, seagrass beds and mangroves. Due to their proximity and similarity of habitats we treat them here as a single unit (hereafter St. John-Thomas). The shallow PRP associated with St. John-Thomas extends ~ 25 km north and ~ 15 km south of those islands and covers an area of ~ 2,100 km2 (Rohmann et al. 2005).

Suppl. material 2: File S1 shows the bathymetry of bottom habitats on the above-150 m shelves of the USVI. The shelf area of the St. John-Thomas EEZ is not only much larger than that of St. Croix but also differs from the latter in containing a much greater diversity of areas of different depths. There are large expanses, in both absolute and relative terms, of habitat between 40–60 m deep to the north of St. Thomas and to the south of both islands. In contrast, most of the smaller shelf of St. Croix is shallower than 20 m deep.

Data sources

We reviewed and cited only publications from which we extracted information relating to the USVI fishes that were published after those cited by Dennis (2000) for St. John-Thomas, and after that by Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) for St. Croix, plus a few earlier publications that contained additional relevant information.

Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) published a comprehensive, annotated checklist of 544 fishes known from St. Croix. That checklist was based, in large part, on the yield of fishes from 106 rotenone stations obtained by Smith-Vaniz et al. (2006) and by later workers to document the shallow cryptobenthic fauna. That 2014 list identified questionable records, a few of which, as we show, have turned out to be valid. Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014). That checklist also excluded deep-water fishes not found above 200 m as well as Exocoetids and Myctophids. For completeness we have included any such species recorded by other sources among the additions noted here. We used the 2014 list of valid species and reviewed fishes listed by other surveys: a SCUBA study of the shallower parts (30–50 m depth) of a mesophotic coral ecosystem at the eastern end of the shelf (García-Sais et al. 2014); two JSL submersible dives off St. Croix to 30–600 m (Nelson and Appeldoorn (1985); and two ROV dives off St. Croix at depths greater than 800 m (Quattrini et al. 2017). In addition, we reviewed the records of fish species from St. Croix available from various online sources: the aggregators GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/), FishNet2 (http://www.fishnet2.net/), iDigBio (https://www.idigbio.org/portal), OBIS (https://obis.org/) and Vertnet (http://vertnet.org/), and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH; https://www.amnh.org/research/vertebrate-zoology/ichthyology). Those searches were made within a quadrat with latitudinal limits of 17.62°N to 17.85°N, and longitudinal limits of -64.4°W to -65.0°W, encompassing St. Croix and all of its platform. The sources of St. Croix records produced by those online searches were evaluated and museum records within the known geographic range of various species were accepted. Evaluation of individual records is necessary because aggregator information includes significant numbers of erroneous records.

Finally, the list includes shallow-reef fishes photographed by authors AME and CJE during a month spent at the island from 19 December 2020 to 13 January 2021. Suppl. material 3: File S2A presents a list, with georeferenced locations, of the 11 dive sites at which they together made 25 dives (total 47 hours duration per person) during that period (see also Fig. 1B and Suppl. material 4: File S3, a Google Earth © KMZ file that shows, for each of those sites, its location and georeferenced coordinates, and the number of dives and total dive time spent at that site). These photographs document a few species not previously recorded at the island, plus several not accepted by Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) due to a lack of reliable information.

Figure 1. 

A dive sites generating fish-occurrence data at St. John and St. Thomas islands. Dive sites of CJE and AME are indicated by red symbols, and of other sources of voucher photographs by blue symbols. Note that some close-proximity sites are indicated by a single symbol. Symbols at the northern and southern edges of Fig. 1A are representative only, as their latitudes are outside the area of the map B dive sites of CJE and AME generating data at St. Croix. See Suppl. material 3: File S2A, B and Suppl. material 4: File S3 for further information. Base map in both cases: NOAA Chart 25641.

For St. John-Thomas we extracted a list of 401 species listed at those islands by Dennis (2000) and reviewed various publications dealing with fish records at and near those islands that were subsequently produced. Finally, we also used the same online data sources as for St. Croix (see above) to obtain records of fishes from the part of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the USVI that includes St. John-Thomas and extends between the northern and southern edges of the PRP. That irregularly shaped EEZ was obtained from Marineregions.org, which provides a standard set of global maps of EEZs (https://www.marineregions.org/eezsearch.php).

CJE and AME spent six months between 3 November 2020 and 29 May 2021 diving at both islands and photographing fishes to obtain voucher images of as many members of those islands’ marine fish fauna as possible. File S2A presents a list, with georeferenced locations, of their dive sites at St. John (37) and St. Thomas (12), at which they made 113 joint dives (involving multiple dives at some sites) totaling 221 hours per person and 37 dives totaling 37 hours per person, respectively. Fig. 1A is a map with those 49 dive sites at St. John-Thomas indicated and File S2 provides additional information. Fig. 1A (and see File S2B) also indicates the location of sites from other sources at which additional species not recorded by CJE and AME were documented photographically by other divers.

Reef-associated bony fishes of the USVI

Greater Caribbean (GC) reef systems have reef-fish faunas that are dominated by members of typical, shallow-reef families of bony fishes extending down to depths of ~ 250–300 m (Baldwin et al. 2018). Here we focus on species belonging to those families, which have traditionally been viewed as reef fishes. We classed species living entirely or largely below 40 m depth as belonging to the deep-reef subset. Species classed here as shallow include both species restricted to depths shallower than 40 m and those with depth ranges that extend above and below that level. These reef-associated fishes include not only benthic and demersal species found on hard-reef substrata, but also pelagic fishes that facultatively associate with reefs and benthic and demersal species that live on soft bottoms within and immediately around the fringes of reefs. Benthic species (e.g., eels, flatfishes) are restricted to life on and in different types of substrata, while demersal species (e.g., snappers and grunts) use both substratum habitats and the water column. Cryptobenthic species are visually cryptic and typically small. We followed Brandl et al. (2018) in classifying families dominated by small cryptobenthic coral-reef species as Core Coral Reef Fish families (CCRFs).

We also evaluate the ecological and zoogeographic composition of the two USVI fish faunas (St. Croix and St. John-Thomas) compared to the complete checklist of the regional fauna of reef-associated bony fishes, which includes 992 species in 342 genera and 84 families (Robertson and Tornabene 2021). These aspects of the fauna of the USVI are also compared with results from another recent comprehensive survey of the fish fauna of nearby Sint Eustatius, which is 170 km from St. Croix (Robertson et al. 2020).

mtDNA-barcode coverage of fishes collected in the USVI and Puerto Rico

Relatively few small marine locations have been comprehensively sampled for fish DNA barcoding, i.e., tissues sequenced for the mtDNA COI marker as a standard for identifying fishes, as compiled in the Barcode of Life Database, BOLD (Ward et al. 2009). Notably, BOLD not only includes a wide variety of projects, most of which are publicly available, but also regularly harvests all available COI sequences from GenBank. In contrast, GenBank does not harvest from BOLD, and BOLD sequences are generally submitted to GenBank only by request. As a result, only a fraction (~ 15% for GC fishes) of COI sequences on BOLD also are present on GenBank, despite its widespread use as the sole source for barcoding studies. BOLD further differs from GenBank by applying quality control to sequences and taxon identifications as data is entered, including sequences harvested from GenBank. It also has post-hoc quality control via a tagging and comment option on individual records. BOLD also includes a large number of private sequences, which can be assessed to a limited degree (with some metadata removed) via the BIN portal, which compiles all records, public and private, within a lineage, assigns a code, and presents some statistics, especially variance and nearest neighbor distances, as well as countries of origin.

The BOLD BIN code is a key advance enabling the compilation and comparison of mtDNA barcoding lists, since it supplies an independent identifier for a monophyletic genetic lineage, which is not the same as a species name. BOLD creates BINs (Barcode Index Numbers) by clustering barcode sequences algorithmically. The BIN often represents a particular species, but there are many exceptions to the “one-species, one BIN” concept: either multiple BINs per species, indicating genetically divergent populations within species (usually allopatric, but not always), a subset of which are putative new cryptic species awaiting morphological confirmation; or shared BINs by two or more species that retain shared or closely related haplotypes due to a short time since speciation, to incomplete lineage sorting, or to a small degree of hybridization.

Our broad assessment suggests that BOLD has a BIN that can be assigned (with widely varying degrees of confidence) to ~ 900 species of shallow-dwelling, reef-associated bony fishes from the GC. A list of sequences obtained in a particular area is obtained from BOLD by using a vector map in its search engine. The resulting list is from public projects (including all GenBank COI sequences), as well as whichever private projects the user has permission to access (often granted by an email request to the source of the sequence). In our case, we have been given access to all of the larger private projects in the region and barcodes for the vast majority (~ 90%) of sequence records in BOLD that could be evaluated in their respective BINs. The list of records from the geographic-area search on BOLD are individual sequences with metadata (including GenBank number if a sequence has one) and photographs of specimens (when available), together with a link to the BIN code to which it belongs. The species name originally submitted for each is preserved, and the accuracy of the assignment can be assessed by examining the BIN to which it belongs, which has details on the various names applied to sequences in the BIN and by whom and where they were obtained. Accuracy assessments are critical, especially for more obscure species, since a “majority rules” decision is often inaccurate due to multiple identifications by inexperienced contributors, the tendency to repeat the species-level identification made by others as a shortcut, and the practice of assigning species-level names to submitted records that are from eggs, larvae, isolated tissue, or fish-market specimens. GenBank records are harvested by BOLD with whatever name is assigned in GenBank, often a preliminary one from submission, rather than the one later corrected or published in the subsequent literature.

Results

The island faunas

St. Croix: The checklist of Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) included 544 species from 280 genera in 94 families. We obtained records of 41 species (belonging to 39 genera and 35 families; see Table 1) that were not included on that checklist, an increase of 7.5% in the number of species. Those new records included 19 deep-living species, six of them (11.1% of all deep species at St. Croix) resulting solely from observations by the JSL submersible (Nelson and Appeldoorn 1985; García-Sais et al. 2014) and an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle; Quattrini et al. 2017). It should be noted that almost all of that group belong to very deep taxa specifically excluded by Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) from their list, which was focused primarily on shallower fishes. The remaining 22 species are shallow-water, reef-associated fishes. Ten of the latter group were photographed by AME and CJE (Table 1; Suppl. material 1: Plate S1). These additions include three species (Eucinostomus melanopterus, Coryphopterus glaucofrenum and Opistognathus macrognathus) that Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) referred to but did not include in their checklist due to lack of confirmed records. Records of two mobulid rays consisted of identified photographs/videos provided by Mantatrust.org (https://www.mantatrust.org/) that were inspected by DRR. The list (Table 1, which includes source information) also includes records from museum collections that provide online data directly or indirectly through aggregators, which were included if consistent with the known geographic range of each of those species.

Table 1.
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Species of fishes added to the St. Croix checklist of fishes of Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014).

Scientific name Common name Deep Image plate Literature source Online source
Antennariidae
Fowlerichthys ocellatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Ocellated Frogfish TNHCi
Bathygadidae
Gadomus arcuatus (Goode & Bean, 1886) Doublethread Grenadier yes 6
Blenniidae
Hypleurochilus pseudoaequipinnis Bath, 1994 Oyster Blenny S1
Bramidae
Eumegistus brevorti (Poey, 1860) Tropical Pomfret yes FlMNH
Chaenopsidae
Emblemariopsis leptocirris Stephens, 1970 Fine-cirrus Blenny S1
Chimaeridae
Chimaera cubana Howell Rivero, 1936 Cuban Chimaera yes 1
Etmopteridae
Etmopterus hillianus (Poey, 1861) Caribbean Lantern Shark yes FlMNH
Exocoetidae
Cheilopogon melanurus (Valenciennes, 1847) Atlantic Flyingfish CF
Cypselurus comatus (Mitchill, 1815) Clearwing Flyingfish CF
Gempylidae
Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith, 1843) Escolar yes NOAA
Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson, 1862 Black Gemfish yes NMNH
Gerreidae
Eucinostomus melanopterus (Bleeker, 1863) Flagfin Mojarra S1 5,7*
Gobiesocidae
Acyrtus lanthanum Conway, Baldwin & White, 2014 Orange-spotted Clingfish FlMNH
Gobiidae
Coryphopterus glaucofraenum Gill, 1863 Bridled Goby S1 2,5.7*
Coryphopterus kuna Victor, 2007 Kuna Goby S1
Oxyurichthys stigmalophius (Mead & Böhlke, 1958) Spotfin Goby S1 NOAA
Kyphosidae
Kyphosus cinerascens (Forsskål, 1775) Topsail Seachub S1
Macrouridae
Nezumia aequalis (Günther, 1878) Atlantic Blacktip Grenadier yes 6
Malakichthyidae
Verilus pseudomicrolepis (Schultz, 1940) False-smallscale Bass yes CAS
Mobulidae
Mobula cf birostris Giant Manta 4
Mobula tarapacana (Philippi, 1892) Sicklefin Devil Ray 4
Muraenidae
Gymnothorax nigromarginatus (Girard, 1858) Blackedge Moray CAS
Nemichthyidae
Nemichthys curvirostris (Strömman, 1896) Spottedbelly Snipe Eel yes 6
Neoscopelidae
Neoscopelus microchir Matsubara, 1943 Shortfin Blackchin yes 6
Ophichthidae
Myrophis punctatus Lütken, 1852 Speckled Worm Eel MCZ
Ophidiidae
Monomitopus agassizii (Goode & Bean, 1896) Threespine Cusk-eel yes MCZ
Opistognathidae
Opistognathus macrognathus Poey, 1860 Banded Jawfish S1 5,7*
Paralichthyidae
Syacium micrurum Ranzani, 1842 Channel Flounder S1
Peristediidae
Peristedion longispatha Goode & Bean, 1886 Widehead Armored Searobin yes MCZ
Pleuronectidae
Poecilopsetta inermis (Breder, 1927) Unarmed Deepwater Dab yes CAS, NMNH
Polymixiidae
Polymixia nobilis Lowe, 1836 Noble Beardfish yes 3
Scombropidae
Scombrops oculatus (Poey, 1860) Atlantic Scombrops yes FlMNH
Sparidae
Calamus calamus (Valenciennes, 1830) Saucereye Porgy 5
Squalidae
Cirrhigaleus asper (Merrett, 1973) Roughskin Spiny Dogfish yes FlMNH
Stomiidae
Borostomias mononema (Regan & Trewavas, 1929) Sickle Snaggletooth yes 8
Synagropidae
Synagrops bellus (Goode & Bean, 1896) Blackmouth Bass yes 6
Syngnathidae
Hippocampus erectus Perry, 1810 Lined Seahorse NCSM
Synodontidae
Synodus foetens (Linnaeus, 1766) Inshore Lizardfish ANSP
Trachinocephalus myops (Forster, 1801) Snakefish S1
Trachipteridae
Zu cristatus (Bonelli, 1820) Scalloped Ribbonfish yes 8
Tripterygiidae
Enneanectes quadra Victor, 2017 Squaretail Triplefin FlMNH

Notes: Deep – restricted to depths below 40 m. Image Plate – see Suppl. material 1: Plate S1 for voucher images. Literature source – 1 Bunckley-Williams and Williams (2004); 2 Garcia-Sais et al. (2014); 3 Nelson and Appeldoorn (1985); 4 Mantatrust.org; 5 Pittman et al. (2008); 6 Quatrinni et al. (2017); 7 Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) (asterisk indicates a species that was discussed by not included by those authors); 8 Clavijo et al. (1980). Online source - TNHCi (University of Texas at Austin, Biodiversity Center, Ichthyology collection; FlMNH (Florida Museum of Natural History); CF (Biological observations from the Dana Expedition Reports); NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration); CAS (California Academy of Sciences); MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology); NMNH (National Museum of Natural History); NCSM (North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences); ANSP (Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia). Coryphopterus: Smith-Vaniz et al. (2014) concluded that C. tortugae, but not C. glaucofrenum, was present at St. Croix. However, CJE and AME photographed both species at St. Croix, illustrated in Suppl. material 1: Plate S1.

St. John-Thomas: Table 2 presents a list of species recorded from those islands together with the source(s) of each record (images, publications, DNA barcodes, or online museum records) and which species have a voucher image in the supplementary plates (Suppl. material 1: Plates S2–S18). In addition, for uncommon species (those encountered by AME, CJE, LR, or third-party photographers at three or fewer dive sites) the names of the sites at which those uncommon species were found are included, to aid future investigations. Dennis (2000) also included information on species that were collected using the ichthyocide Rotenone (see Table 2). Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) list for St. Croix also included some species recorded at these St. John-Thomas as a result of collections using that ichthyocide. Two ROV dives of Quattrini et al. (2017) and four dives (including one to only 50 m depth on the PRP a little to the north of St. Thomas) by the JSL submersible at St. John-Thomas (Nelson and Appeldoorn 1985; Garcia-Sais 2005) yielded 75 species records. Of those 19 were of deep-living species, with 14 (28%) representing sole-source records of the 50 deep-living fishes currently known to occur at St. John-Thomas.

Table 2.
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Checklist of the fishes of St. John-Thomas islands.

Scientific name Common name Image Plate Literature source Online source Uncommon (site code) Ichthyocide DNA
Acanthuridae
Acanthurus chirurgus (Bloch, 1787) Doctorfish S2 2,4,8 1 1
Acanthurus coeruleus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Blue Tang S2 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Acanthurus tractus Poey, 1860 Northern Ocean Surgeonfish S2 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Achiridae
Gymnachirus nudus Kaup, 1858 Flabby Sole S2 2,11 1 SJ5, SJ18, SJ25 YES
Aetobatidae
Aetobatus narinari (Euphrasen, 1790) Spotted Eagle Ray S2 2 1
Albulidae
Albula goreensis Valenciennes, 1847 Senegalese Bonefish NOAA-BOLD YES
Albula vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) Bonefish 2,4 1 YES
Anguillidae
Anguilla rostrata (Lesueur, 1817) American Eel 6 1
Antennariidae
Antennarius multiocellatus (Valenciennes, 1837) Longlure Frogfish S2 2 1 1
Antennarius pauciradiatus Schultz, 1957 Dwarf Frogfish 2 1
Histrio histrio (Linnaeus, 1758) Sargassumfish S2 12 O22
Apogonidae
Apogon aurolineatus (Mowbray, 1927) Bridle Cardinalfish S2 2,4 1 YES
Apogon binotatus (Poey, 1867) Barred Cardinalfish S2 2,4 1 1
Apogon lachneri Böhlke, 1959 Whitestar Cardinalfish S2 2,4 1 SJ2 1
Apogon maculatus (Poey, 1860) Flamefish S2 2,4 1 1 YES
Apogon phenax Böhlke & Randall, 1968 Mimic Cardinalfish S2 2,11 1
Apogon planifrons Longley & Hildebrand, 1940 Pale Cardinalfish S2 2 1 1
Apogon pseudomaculatus Longley, 1932 Twospot Cardinalfish 2,4 1
Apogon quadrisquamatus Longley, 1934 Sawcheek Cardinalfish S2 2,4 1 SJ22, SJ25 1 YES
Apogon robinsi Böhlke & Randall, 1968 Roughlip Cardinalfish 2 -1
Apogon townsendi (Breder, 1927) Belted Cardinalfish S2 2,4 1 1 YES
Astrapogon puncticulatus (Poey, 1867) Blackfin Cardinalfish S2 2 1 YES
Astrapogon stellatus (Cope, 1867) Conchfish S2 2,4 1 SJ5, SJ13 YES
Paroncheilus affinis (Poey, 1875) Bigtooth Cardinalfish 2 1
Phaeoptyx conklini (Silvester, 1915) Freckled Cardinalfish S2 2 1 1 YES
Phaeoptyx pigmentaria (Poey, 1860) Dusky Cardinalfish S2 2 1 1 YES
Phaeoptyx xenus (Böhlke & Randall, 1968) Sponge Cardinalfish S2 2 1 1 YES
Zapogon evermanni (Jordan & Snyder, 1904) Oddscale Cardinalfish S2 SJ22 YES
Atherinidae
Atherina harringtonensis Goode, 1877 Reef Silverside 2 1 1 YES
Atherinomorus stipes (Müller & Troschel, 1848) Hardhead Silverside S2 2,6 1 1
Aulostomidae
Aulostomus maculatus Valenciennes, 1841 Atlantic Trumpetfish S2 2,4 1 1
Balistidae
Balistes capriscus Gmelin, 1789 Gray Triggerfish S3 2
Balistes vetula Linnaeus, 1758 Queen Triggerfish S3 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Canthidermis sufflamen (Mitchill, 1815) Ocean Triggerfish S3 2 1 SJ33
Melichthys niger (Bloch, 1786) Black Durgon S3 2,4 1 SJ33
Xanthichthys ringens (Linnaeus, 1758) Sargassum Triggerfish S3 2,5 1 SJ33
Belonidae
Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) Barred Needlefish S3
Platybelone argalus argalus (Lesueur, 1821) Keeltail Needlefish S3 2 1 1
Strongylura timucu (Walbaum, 1792) Timucú 2,6 1
Tylosurus acus (Lacepède, 1803) Atlantic Agujón FlMNH, MCZ
Tylosurus crocodilus (Péron & Lesueur, 1821) Houndfish S3 2 1
Blenniidae
Entomacrodus nigricans Gill, 1859 Pearl Blenny S3 2 1 1 YES
Hypleurochilus pseudoaequipinnis Bath, 1994 Oyster Blenny S3 2,11 1 YES
Hypleurochilus springeri Randall, 1966 Orangespotted Blenny S3 2 1
Hypsoblennius invemar Smith-Vaniz & Acero P., 1980 Tessellated Blenny S3 11 1 ST11 YES
Ophioblennius macclurei (Silvester, 1915) Redlip Blenny S3 2,4 1 1 YES
Parablennius marmoreus (Poey, 1876) Seaweed Blenny S3 2,4 1 1 YES
Scartella cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) Molly Miller S3 2,4 1 1 YES
Bothidae
Bothus lunatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Peacock Flounder S3 2,4 1 1
Bothus maculiferus (Poey, 1860) Mottled Flounder S3 SJ3, SJ5, SJ28
Bothus ocellatus (Agassiz, 1831) Eyed Flounder S3 2,4 1
Bothus robinsi Topp & Hoff, 1972 Twospot Flounder 2,3
Bythitidae
Calamopteryx goslinei Böhlke & Cohen, 1966 Longarm Brotula 2 -1
Grammonus claudei (de la Torre y Huerta, 1930) Reef-cave Brotula 2 1 -1
Petrotyx sanguineus (Meek & Hildebrand, 1928) Redfin Brotula 2 1 -1
Callionymidae
Callionymus bairdi Jordan, 1888 Lancer Dragonet S3 2,4 1 YES
Chalinops pauciradiatus (Gill, 1865) Spotted Dragonet S3 2 1 SJ28, SJ3, SJ5 YES
Carangidae
Alectis ciliaris (Bloch, 1787) African Pompano S4 2 1 ST1, SJ13
Caranx bartholomaei Cuvier, 1833 Yellow Jack S4 2,4 1
Caranx crysos (Mitchill, 1815) Blue Runner S4 2,4 1
Caranx hippos (Linnaeus, 1766) Crevalle Jack S4 SJ29
Caranx latus Agassiz, 1831 Horse-eye Jack S4 2,6 1
Caranx lugubris Poey, 1860 Black Jack S4 2,4,5,8 1 SJ33
Caranx ruber (Bloch, 1793) Bar Jack S4 2,4,8 1 1
Chloroscombrus chrysurus (Linnaeus, 1766) Atlantic Bumper 2
Decapterus macarellus (Cuviers, 1833) Mackerel Scad S4 2 1
Decapterus punctatus (Cuvier, 1829) Round Scad S4 2 1
Decapterus tabl Berry, 1968 Redtail Scad S4 SJ11
Elagatis bipinnulata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) Rainbow Runner S4 2 1 SJ33
Oligoplites saurus saurus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Leatherjack 2 1
Selar crumenophthalmus (Bloch, 1793) Bigeye Scad S4 2 1 SJ13
Selene brownii (Cuvier, 1816) Caribbean Moonfish 2 1
Selene vomer (Linnaeus, 1758) Lookdown FlMNH
Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810) Greater Amberjack 2,5
Seriola rivoliana Valenciennes, 1833 Almaco Jack S4 2 1 SJ16, SJ23
Trachinotus falcatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Permit S4 2 1 SJ22, SJ23
Trachinotus goodei Jordan & Evermann, 1896 Palometa S4 2,4 1 SJ23, SJ15
Carcharhinidae
Carcharhinus acronotus (Poey, 1860) Blacknose Shark S4 1,2,10 1 SJ35, SJ27, ST7
Carcharhinus falciformis (Müller & Henle, 1839) Silky Shark S4 1, O1
Carcharhinus galapagensis (Snodgrass & Heller, 1905) Galapagos Shark 2
Carcharhinus limbatus (Müller & Henle, 1839) Blacktip Shark 1,2 1
Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) Oceanic Whitetip Shark NMNH
Carcharhinus perezii (Poey, 1876) Reef Shark S4 2,10 1 SJ13
Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827) Sandbar Shark ANSP
Negaprion brevirostris (Poey, 1868) Lemon Shark S4 1,2,6,10 1 SJ12, O2
Rhizoprionodon porosus (Poey, 1861) Caribbean Sharpnose Shark 1,2,10 1
Centrophoridae
Centrophorus uyato (Rafinesque, 1810) Little Gulper Shark CAS
Centropomidae
Centropomus ensiferus Poey, 1860 Swordspine Snook 6 1
Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792) Common Snook S4 2,6 1
Chaenopsidae
Acanthemblemaria aspera (Longley, 1927) Roughhead Blenny S5 2 1 ST3 YES
Acanthemblemaria maria Böhlke, 1961 Secretary Blenny S5 4 1 YES
Acanthemblemaria spinosa Metzelaar, 1919 Spinyhead Blenny S5 2,4 1 1 YES
Chaenopsis limbaughi Robins & Randall, 1965 Yellowface Pikeblenny S5 2,4 1 YES
Chaenopsis ocellata Poey, 1865 Bluethroat Pikeblenny 2,4 1
Coralliozetus cardonae Evermann & Marsh, 1899 Twinhorn Blenny S5 11 1 YES
Emblemaria pandionis Evermann & Marsh, 1900 Sailfin Blenny S5 2,4 1 YES
Emblemaria vitta Williams, 2002 Ribbon Blenny S5 2,3 1 ST6 -1 YES
Emblemariopsis bahamensis Stephens, 1961 Blackhead Blenny S5 1 YES
Emblemariopsis carib Victor, 2010 Carib Blenny 2 1 -1 YES
Emblemariopsis leptocirris Stephens, 1970 Fine-cirrus Blenny S5 2,11 -1 YES
Emblemariopsis ruetzleri Tyler & Tyler, 1997 Ruetzler’s Blenny BOLD, NMNH YES
Lucayablennius zingaro (Böhlke, 1957) Arrow Blenny S5 SJ18, SJ19
Chaetodontidae
Chaetodon capistratus Linnaeus, 1758 Foureye Butterflyfish S5 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Chaetodon ocellatus Bloch, 1787 Spotfin Butterflyfish S5 2,4 1
Chaetodon sedentarius Poey, 1860 Reef Butterflyfish S5 2,4,5,8 1
Chaetodon striatus Linnaeus, 1758 Banded Butterflyfish S5 2,4 1 1
Prognathodes aculeatus (Poey, 1860) Longsnout Butterflyfish S5 2,5,8 1
Prognathodes guyanensis (Durand, 1960) Guyana Butterflyfish 2,5,8,11
Chaunacidae
Chaunax pixtus Fowler, 1946 Uniform Gaper 5
Chaunax suttkusi Caruso, 1989 Pale-cavity Gaper CAS
Chlopsidae
Chilorhinus suensonii Lütken, 1852 Seagrass Eel 2 1
Kaupichthys hyoproroides (Strömman, 1896) False Moray 2 1 -1
Kaupichthys nuchalis Böhlke, 1967 Collared Eel 2,11 1
Chlorophthalmidae
Parasudis truculenta (Goode & Bean, 1896) Longnose Greeneye 5
Cichlidae
Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters, 1852) Mozambique Tilapia 6 1
Cirrhitidae
Amblycirrhitus pinos (Mowbray, 1927) Redspotted Hawkfish S5 2,4 1 1
Clupeidae
Harengula clupeola (Cuvier, 1829) False Pilchard 2 1 YES
Harengula humeralis (Cuvier, 1829) Redear Sardine S5 2 1 SJ28, SJ13 YES
Harengula jaguana Poey, 1865 Scaled Sardine FlMNH
Opisthonema oglinum (Lesueur, 1818) Atlantic Thread Herring FlMNH YES
Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847 Spanish Sardine FlMNH
Congridae
Ariosoma balearicum (Delaroche, 1809) Bandtooth Conger 2
Conger triporiceps Kanazawa, 1958 Manytooth Conger 4 1
Heteroconger longissimus Günther, 1870 Brown Garden Eel S5 2,4 1
Xenomystax bidentatus (Reid, 1940) Rabbit Conger NMNH
Coryphaenidae
Coryphaena equiselis Linnaeus, 1758 Pompano Dolphinfish ROM
Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 Dolphinfish S5 2 1
Cynoglossidae
Symphurus arawak Robins & Randall, 1965 Caribbean Tonguefish 2 1 1
Dactylopteridae
Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) Flying Gurnard S5 4 1 YES
Dactyloscopidae
Dactyloscopus comptus Dawson, 1982 Ornamented Stargazer 2,11 1
Dactyloscopus crossotus Starks, 1913 Bigeye Stargazer AMNH
Dactyloscopus poeyi Gill, 1861 Shortchin Stargazer FlMNH
Dactyloscopus tridigitatus Gill, 1859 Sand Stargazer S5 2 1 1
Gillellus greyae Kanazawa, 1952 Arrow Stargazer 2 -1
Gillellus uranidea Böhlke, 1968 Warteye Stargazer 2 -1 YES
Platygillellus rubrocinctus (Longley, 1934) Saddle Stargazer
Dasyatidae
Hypanus americanus (Hildebrand & Schroeder, 1928) Southern Stingray S5 1,2,4,10 1
Diodontidae
Chilomycterus antennatus (Cuvier, 1816) Bridled Burrfish S5 2,4 1 SJ18
Chilomycterus antillarum Jordan & Rutter, 1897 Web Burrfish 2 1
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758 Balloonfish S5 2,4 1 SJ11, SJ13 -1
Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758 Porcupinefish S5 2,4 1 1
Echeneidae
Echeneis naucrates Linnaeus, 1758 Sharksucker S6 2,4 1 SJ19, SJ23 YES
Echeneis neucratoides Zuiew, 1789 Whitefin Sharksucker S6 1
Remora remora (Linnaeus, 1758) The Remora S6 1 O3 YES
Eleotridae
Dormitator maculatus (Bloch, 1792) Fat Sleeper S6 6 1 SJ10
Eleotris perniger (Cope, 1871) Smallscaled Spinycheek Sleeper S6 6 1 SJ10
Erotelis smaragdus (Valenciennes, 1837) Emerald Sleeper 6 1
Gobiomorus dormitor Lacepède, 1800 Bigmouth Sleeper S6 1
Elopidae
Elops smithi McBride, Rocha, Ruiz-Carus & Bowen, 2010 Malacho 2,6 YES
Engraulidae
Anchoa lyolepis (Evermann & Marsh, 1900) Dusky Anchovy 2 1 YES
Ephippidae
Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) Atlantic Spadefish S6 2,4 1 SJ18, ST2
Epigonidae
Epigonus pandionis (Goode & Bean, 1881) Caudal-ring Deepwater Cardinalfish CAS
Exocoetidae
Cheilopogon exsiliens (Linnaeus, 1771) Bandwing Flyingfish 2 1
Exocoetus obtusirostris Günther, 1866 Oceanic Two-wing Flyingfish MCZ
Hirundichthys affinis (Günther, 1866) Fourwing Flyingfish 2
Hirundichthys speculiger (Valenciennes, 1847) Mirrorwing Flyingfish 2 1
Prognichthys occidentalis Parin, 1999 Bluntnose Flyingfish S6 YES
Fistulariidae
Fistularia tabacaria Linnaeus, 1758 Bluespotted Cornetfish S6 2 O4
Galeocerdonidae
Galeocerdo cuvier (Peron & Lesueur, 1822) Tiger Shark 10
Gempylidae
Epinnula magistralis Poey, 1854 Domine 5 1
Gerreidae
Eucinostomus argenteus Baird & Girard, 1855 Spotfin Mojarra 2 1 YES
Eucinostomus gula (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) Silver Jenny S6 4 1 SJ18, SJ13, SJ3
Eucinostomus harengulus Goode & Bean, 1879 Tidewater Mojarra S6 1 SJ28
Eucinostomus havana (Nichols, 1912) Bigeye Mojarra FlMNH
Eucinostomus jonesii (Günther, 1879) Slender Mojarra S6 4,6 SJ28
Eucinostomus lefroyi (Goode, 1874) Mottled Mojarra S6 SJ28, SJ21
Eucinostomus melanopterus (Bleeker, 1863) Flagfin Mojarra S6 4 1 SJ28
Eugerres brasilianus (Cuvier, 1830) Brazilian Mojarra 6,11 1
Gerres cinereus (Walbaum, 1792) Yellowfin Mojarra S6 2,4,6 1
Ginglymostomatidae
Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788) Nurse Shark S6 1,2,4,10 1
Gobiesocidae
Acyrtops amplicirrus Briggs, 1955 Flarenostril Clingfish 2
Acyrtops beryllinus (Hildebrand & Ginsburg, 1927) Emerald Clingfish 2 1
Acyrtus artius Briggs, 1955 Papillate Clingfish 2
Acyrtus rubiginosus (Poey, 1868) Red Clingfish S6 1 SJ23, SJ13, SJ5 YES
Arcos nudus (Linnaeus, 1758) Padded Clingfish S6 2 1 SJ23 1
Gobiesox nigripinnis (Peters, 1859) Dark-finned Clingfish S6 2 1 SJ29
Gobiesox punctulatus (Poey, 1876) Stippled Clingfish S6 2 1 1 YES
Tomicodon cryptus Williams & Tyler, 2003 Cryptic Clingfish S6 YES
Tomicodon fasciatus (Peters, 1859) Barred Clingfish 2 1 1
Tomicodon leurodiscus Williams & Tyler, 2003 Smooth-suckered Clingfish 11 1
Tomicodon reitzae Briggs, 2001 Accidental Clingfish S6 YES
Tomicodon rhabdotus Smith-Vaniz, 1969 Antillean Clingfish S6 O24
Tomicodon rupestris (Poey, 1860) Barred Clingfish 11 1
Gobiidae
Awaous banana (Valenciennes, 1837) River Goby S7 1 SJ10
Barbulifer ceuthoecus (Jordan & Gilbert, 1884) Bearded Goby 2 1 YES
Bathygobius antilliensis Tornabene, Baldwin & Pezold, 2010 Antilles Frillfin S7 SJ36 YES
Bathygobius curacao (Metzelaar, 1919) Notchtongue Goby 11 1 YES
Bathygobius lacertus (Poey, 1860) Checkerboard Frillfin FlMNH YES
Bathygobius mystacium Ginsburg, 1947 Island Frillfin S7 SJ21, SJ19 YES
Bathygobius soporator (Valenciennes, 1837) Frillfin Goby 2,6,11 1 YES
Bollmannia boqueronensis Evermann & Marsh, 1899 White-eye Goby S7 4 SJ19 YES
Cerdale floridana Longley, 1934 Pugjaw Wormfish S7 2 1 SJ23 1
Coryphopterus alloides Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Barfin Goby 2 1 -1
Coryphopterus dicrus Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Colon Goby S7 2,4 1 1 YES
Coryphopterus eidolon Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Pallid Goby S7 2,4 1 1 YES
Coryphopterus glaucofraenum Gill, 1863 Bridled Goby S7 2,4 1 1 YES
Coryphopterus hyalinus Böhlke & Robins, 1962 Glass Goby S7 2 1 -1 YES
Coryphopterus kuna Victor, 2007 Kuna Goby S7 SJ5, SJ12
Coryphopterus lipernes Böhlke & Robins, 1962 Peppermint Goby S7 2,4 1 ST6 YES
Coryphopterus personatus (Jordan & Thompson, 1905) Masked Goby S7 2 1 1 YES
Coryphopterus thrix Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Bartail Goby 2 1 1 YES
Coryphopterus tortugae (Jordan, 1904) Sand Goby S7 1 YES
Coryphopterus venezuelae Cervigón, 1966 Venezuela Goby S7 1 YES
Ctenogobius boleosoma (Jordan & Gilbert, 1882) Darter Goby S7 6 1 SJ28 YES
Ctenogobius saepepallens (Gilbert & Randall, 1968) Dash Goby S7 2,4 1 YES
Ctenogobius smaragdus (Valenciennes, 1837) Emerald Goby 11
Ctenogobius stigmaturus (Goode & Bean, 1882) Spottail Goby S7 SJ28 YES
Elacatinus chancei (Beebe & Hollister, 1933) Shortstripe Goby S7 2,4 1 YES
Elacatinus evelynae (Böhlke & Robins, 1968) Sharknose Goby S7 2,4 1 1 YES
Elacatinus prochilos (Böhlke & Robins, 1968) Broadstripe Goby S7 1 YES
Evorthodus lyricus (Girard, 1858) Lyre Goby 6 1
Ginsburgellus novemlineatus (Fowler, 1950) Ninelined Goby S7 1 SJ23, SJ5 YES
Gnatholepis thompsoni Jordan, 1904 Goldspot Goby S7 2,4 1 1 YES
Gobionellus oceanicus (Pallas, 1770) Highfin Goby S7 1 SJ28
Gobiosoma grosvenori (Robins, 1964) Rockcut Goby 4 1
Lophogobius cyprinoides (Pallas, 1770) Crested Goby S8 6 1 SJ28
Lythrypnus elasson Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Dwarf Goby S8 2 AMNH ST5 1 YES
Lythrypnus minimus Garzón-Ferreira & Acero P., 1988 Pygmy Goby S8 YES
Lythrypnus nesiotes Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Island Goby S8 2 1 SJ34 1 YES
Lythrypnus spilus Böhlke & Robins, 1960 Bluegold Goby S8 ST3
Microgobius carri Fowler, 1945 Seminole Goby S8 2,4 1 SJ19, SJ25 1 YES
Microgobius signatus Poey, 1876 Signal Goby S8 1 SJ28, SJ22, SJ3 YES
Nes longus (Nichols, 1914) Orangespotted Goby S8 4 1 YES
Oxyurichthys stigmalophius (Mead & Böhlke, 1958) Spotfin Goby S8 4 1 SJ5, SJ19, SJ28
Palatogobius paradoxus Gilbert, 1971 Mauve Goby 2,11 1
Priolepis hipoliti (Metzelaar, 1922) Rusty Goby S8 2,4 1 1
Psilotris celsa Böhlke, 1963 Highspine Goby 2 1
Ptereleotris helenae (Randall, 1968) Hovering Dartfish S8 2,4 1
Risor ruber (Rosén, 1911) Tusked Goby S8 2 1 1 YES
Sicydium plumieri (Bloch, 1786) Sirajo Goby S8 6 1 SJ10 YES
Sicydium punctatum Perugia, 1896 Spotted Algae-eating Goby S8 1 SJ10 YES
Tigrigobius dilepis (Robins & Böhlke, 1964) Orangesided Goby 4 1
Tigrigobius multifasciatus (Steindachner, 1876) Greenbanded Goby S8 2 1 YES
Tigrigobius pallens (Ginsburg, 1939) Semiscaled Goby S8 SJ23
Tigrigobius saucrus (Robins, 1960) Leopard Goby S8 2 1 1 YES
Grammatidae
Gramma linki Starck & Colin, 1978 Yellowcheek Basslet 2,5,8 1
Gramma loreto Poey, 1868 Fairy Basslet S8 2,4 1 YES
Haemulidae
Anisotremus surinamensis (Bloch, 1791) Black Margate S9 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Anisotremus virginicus (Linnaeus, 1758) Porkfish S9 2,5,6,8 1 YES
Brachygenys chrysargyrea (Günther, 1859) Smallmouth Grunt S9 2,4 1 1 YES
Emmelichthyops atlanticus Schultz, 1945 Bonnetmouth S9 2 ST8
Haemulon album Cuvier, 1830 Margate S9 2,4 1 SJ7
Haemulon aurolineatum Cuvier, 1830 Tomtate S9 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Haemulon carbonarium Poey, 1860 Caesar Grunt S9 2,4 1 1
Haemulon flavolineatum (Desmarest, 1823) French Grunt S9 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Haemulon macrostoma Günther, 1859 Spanish Grunt S9 2,4 1 1
Haemulon melanurum (Linnaeus, 1758) Cottonwick S9 2 1 O5 YES
Haemulon parra (Desmarest, 1823) Sailors Choice S9 2,4 1 SJ1, SJ21 YES
Haemulon plumierii (Lacepède, 1801) White Grunt S9 2,4 1 1 YES
Haemulon sciurus (Shaw, 1803) Bluestriped Grunt S9 2,4,5 1 1 YES
Haemulon striatum (Linnaeus, 1758) Striped Grunt 2,4 1 YES
Haemulon vittatum (Poey, 1860) Boga S9 2,4 1 ST6, ST8, ST2 1
Hemiramphidae
Euleptorhamphus velox Poey, 1868 Flying Halfbeak MCZ
Hemiramphus balao Lesueur, 1821 Balao MCZ
Hemiramphus brasiliensis (Linnaeus, 1758) Ballyhoo S9 2 1
Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani, 1841) Atlantic Silverstripe Halfbeak 2 1
Hexanchidae
Heptranchias perlo (Bonnaterre, 1788) Sharpnose Sevengill Shark FlMNH
Hexanchus vitulus Springer & Waller, 1969 Atlantic Sixgill Shark FlMNH
Holocentridae
Holocentrus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765) Squirrelfish S9 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Holocentrus rufus (Walbaum, 1792) Longspine Squirrelfish S9 2,4,5,8 1 1
Myripristis jacobus Cuvier, 1829 Blackbar Soldierfish S9 2,4,5,8 1 1
Neoniphon coruscum (Poey, 1860) Reef Squirrelfish S9 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Neoniphon marianus (Cuvier, 1829) Longjaw Squirrelfish S9 2,4,5,8 1 1
Neoniphon vexillarium (Poey, 1860) Dusky Squirrelfish S9 2,4 1 1
Ostichthys trachypoma (Günther, 1859) Bigeye Soldierfish 2,5,8 1
Plectrypops retrospinis (Guichenot, 1853) Cardinal Soldierfish S9 2,5,8 1 SJ9, SJ22, ST3 1
Sargocentron bullisi (Woods, 1955) Deepwater Squirrelfish 2,11 1
Ipnopidae
Bathypterois bigelowi Mead, 1958 Spottail Tripodfish CAS
Bathypterois phenax Parr, 1928 Blackfin Spiderfish 9
Bathypterois viridensis (Roule, 1916) Twobanded Tripodfish 9
Ipnops murrayi Günther, 1878 Grideye Fish 9
Istiophoridae
Istiophorus platypterus (Shaw, 1792) Sailfish S9 2
Kajikia albida (Poey, 1860) White Marlin S9 2
Makaira nigricans Lacepède, 1802 Blue Marlin 2 YES
Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins & de Sylva, 1963 Longbill Spearfish 2
Kyphosidae
Kyphosus cinerascens (Forsskål, 1775) Topsail Seachub S10
Kyphosus sectatrix (Linnaeus, 1758) Bermuda Chub S10 2,4 1
Kyphosus vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) Yellow Chub S10 1
Labridae
Labrinae
Bodianus rufus (Linnaeus, 1758) Spanish Hogfish S10 2,4,5,8 1 YES
Clepticus parrae (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Creole Wrasse S10 2,4,5,8 1 YES
Decodon puellaris (Poey, 1860) Red Hogfish 2 1
Doratonotus megalepis Günther, 1862 Dwarf Wrasse 2 1
Halichoeres bivittatus (Bloch, 1791) Slippery Dick S10 2,4 1 1 YES
Halichoeres caudalis (Poey, 1860) Painted Wrasse NOAA
Halichoeres cyanocephalus (Bloch, 1791) Yellowcheek Wrasse 2 1
Halichoeres garnoti (Valenciennes, 1839) Yellowhead Wrasse S10 2,4 1 1 YES
Halichoeres maculipinna (Müller & Troschel, 1848) Clown Wrasse S10 2,4 1 1
Halichoeres pictus (Poey, 1860) Rainbow Wrasse S10 2,4 1 1
Halichoeres poeyi (Steindachner, 1867) Blackear Wrasse S10 2,4 1
Halichoeres radiatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Puddingwife S10 2,4 1 1 YES
Lachnolaimus maximus (Walbaum, 1792) Hogfish S10 2,4,5,8 1
Thalassoma bifasciatum (Bloch, 1791) Bluehead S10 2,4 1 1
Xyrichtys martinicensis Valenciennes, 1840 Rosy Razorfish S10 2,4 1
Xyrichtys novacula (Linnaeus, 1758) Pearly Razorfish S10 2,4 1 YES
Xyrichtys splendens Castelnau, 1855 Green Razorfish S10 2,4 1
Scarinae
Cryptotomus roseus Cope, 1871 Bluelip Parrotfish S10 2,4 1 YES
Scarus coelestinus Valenciennes, 1840 Midnight Parrotfish S10 2 1 O6 1
Scarus coeruleus (Edwards, 1771) Blue Parrotfish 2,4 1 1
Scarus guacamaia Cuvier, 1829 Rainbow Parrotfish S10 2,4 1 SJ28, SJ33, O2
Scarus iseri (Bloch, 1789) Striped Parrotfish S10 2,4 1 1 YES
Scarus taeniopterus Lesson, 1829 Princess Parrotfish S10 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Scarus vetula Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Queen Parrotfish S10 2,4 1 1 YES
Sparisoma atomarium (Poey, 1861) Greenblotch Parrotfish S11 2,4 1
Sparisoma aurofrenatum (Valenciennes, 1840) Redband Parrotfish S11 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Sparisoma chrysopterum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Redtail Parrotfish S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Sparisoma radians (Valenciennes, 1840) Bucktooth Parrotfish S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Sparisoma rubripinne (Valenciennes, 1840) Yellowtail Parrotfish S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Sparisoma viride (Bonnaterre, 1788) Stoplight Parrotfish S11 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Labrisomidae
Brockius albigenys Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928 Whitecheek Blenny DNA Berry Bay, St. John YES
Brockius nigricinctus (Howell Rivero, 1936) Spotcheek Blenny S11 1 SJ21 YES
Gobioclinus bucciferus (Poey, 1868) Puffcheek Blenny S11 2 1 YES
Gobioclinus filamentosus (Springer, 1960) Quillfin Blenny S11 3,11 1 O7 YES
Gobioclinus gobio (Valenciennes, 1836) Palehead Blenny S11 2 1 1 YES
Gobioclinus guppyi (Norman, 1922) Mimic Blenny S11 2 1 -1 YES
Gobioclinus haitiensis (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928) Longfin Blenny S11 2 1 SJ12 1 YES
Labrisomus cricota Sazima, Gasparini & Moura, 2002 Mock Blenny S11 SJ10
Labrisomus nuchipinnis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) Hairy Blenny S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Malacoctenus aurolineatus Smith, 1957 Goldline Blenny S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Malacoctenus boehlkei Springer, 1959 Diamond Blenny S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Malacoctenus erdmani Smith, 1957 Imitator Blenny S11 SJ23 YES
Malacoctenus gilli (Steindachner, 1867) Dusky Blenny S11 2,4 1 YES
Malacoctenus macropus (Poey, 1868) Rosy Blenny S11 2,4 1 YES
Malacoctenus triangulatus Springer, 1959 Saddled Blenny S11 2,4 1 1 YES
Malacoctenus versicolor (Poey, 1876) Barfin Blenny S11 2,4 1 SJ23, SJ12 YES
Nemaclinus atelestos Böhlke & Springer, 1975 Threadfin Blenny 2,11 1
Paraclinus barbatus Springer, 1955 Goatee Blenny 2,11
Paraclinus cingulatus (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) Coral Blenny 2
Paraclinus fasciatus (Steindachner, 1876) Banded Blenny S11 2 SJ12
Paraclinus nigripinnis (Steindachner, 1867) Blackfin Blenny S11 2 1 SJ12 YES
Starksia culebrae (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) Culebra Blenny S11 2 1 ST2, SJ13 YES
Starksia hassi Klausewitz, 1958 Ringed Blenny S11 2,11 1 SJ24 1
Starksia lepicoelia Böhlke & Springer, 1961 Blackcheek Blenny 2 1 1
Starksia nanodes Böhlke & Springer, 1961 Dwarf Blenny 2 1
Starksia williamsi Baldwin & Castillo, 2011 Williams’s Blenny S11 SJ2, SJ13 YES
Stathmonotus gymnodermis Springer, 1955 Naked Blenny 2 1
Stathmonotus stahli (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) Southern Eelgrass Blenny 2 1
Latilidae
Caulolatilus cyanops Poey, 1866 Blackline Tilefish 2
Lobotidae
Lobotes surinamensis (Bloch, 1790) Atlantic Tripletail S11 2 1 O18
Lutjanidae
Apsilus dentatus Guichenot, 1853 Black Snapper 2
Etelis oculatus (Valenciennes, 1828) Queen Snapper S12 2,5,8 YES
Lutjanus analis (Cuvier, 1828) Mutton Snapper S12 2,4,5,8 1 YES
Lutjanus apodus (Walbaum, 1792) Schoolmaster S12 2,4,5,6,8 1 1 YES
Lutjanus buccanella (Cuvier, 1828) Blackfin Snapper S12 2,5,8 1 YES
Lutjanus cyanopterus (Cuvier, 1828) Cubera Snapper S12 2,4 1 YES
Lutjanus griseus (Linnaeus, 1758) Gray Snapper S12 2,4,6 1 1
Lutjanus jocu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Dog Snapper S12 2,4,5,8 1 YES
Lutjanus mahogoni (Cuvier, 1828) Mahogany Snapper S12 2,4 1 1 YES
Lutjanus purpureus (Poey, 1866) Caribbean Red Snapper 2 1
Lutjanus synagris (Linnaeus, 1758) Lane Snapper S12 2,4 1 YES
Lutjanus vivanus (Cuvier, 1828) Silk Snapper S12 2,5,8 1 YES
Ocyurus chrysurus (Bloch, 1791) Yellowtail Snapper S12 2,4 1 1 YES
Pristipomoides macrophthalmus (Müller & Troschel, 1848) Cardinal Snapper 2
Rhomboplites aurorubens (Cuvier, 1829) Vermilion Snapper S12 2 SJ20
Malacanthidae
Malacanthus plumieri (Bloch, 1786) Sand Tilefish S12 2,4,5,8 1 1
Megalopidae
Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes, 1847 Tarpon S12 2,6 1
Mobulidae
Mobula birostris (Walbaum, 1792) Giant Manta S12 2
Mobula cf birostris Caribbean Manta S12 SJ12
Monacanthidae
Aluterus monoceros (Linnaeus, 1758) Unicorn Filefish S12 O23
Aluterus schoepfii (Walbaum, 1792) Orange Filefish S12 1 SJ34
Aluterus scriptus (Osbeck, 1765) Scrawled Filefish S12 4 1
Cantherhines macrocerus (Hollard, 1853) Whitespotted Filefish S12 2 1 YES
Cantherhines pullus (Ranzani, 1842) Orangespotted Filefish S12 2,4 1 1
Monacanthus ciliatus (Mitchill, 1818) Fringed Filefish S12 2,4 1 YES
Monacanthus tuckeri Bean, 1906 Slender Filefish S12 2,4 1
Stephanolepis hispida (Linnaeus, 1766) Planehead Filefish FlMNH
Stephanolepis setifer (Bennett, 1831) Pygmy Filefish 2
Moringuidae
Moringua edwardsi (Jordan & Bollman, 1889) Spaghetti Eel 2 1 -1
Mugilidae
Dajaus monticola (Bancroft, 1834) Mountain Mullet S13 6 1 SJ10
Mugil curema Valenciennes, 1836 White Mullet S13 2,6 SJ21 YES
Mugil rubrioculus Harrison, Nirchio, Oliveira, Ron & Gaviria, 2007 Redeye Mullet S13 DNA YES
Mugil trichodon Poey, 1875 Fantail Mullet ROM
Mullidae
Mulloidichthys martinicus (Cuvier, 1829) Yellow Goatfish S13 2,4,6 1 1 YES
Pseudupeneus maculatus (Bloch, 1793) Spotted Goatfish S13 2,4,5,8 1 1
Muraenidae
Echidna catenata (Bloch, 1795) Chain Moray S13 2,4 1 SJ21, SJ10 1
Enchelycore carychroa Böhlke & Böhlke, 1976 Chestnut Moray S13 2 1 SJ5 1
Enchelycore nigricans (Bonnaterre, 1788) Viper Moray S13 2 1 SJ9 1
Gymnothorax conspersus Poey, 1867 Saddled Moray ANSP
Gymnothorax funebris Ranzani, 1839 Green Moray S13 2,4 1 1 YES
Gymnothorax maderensis (Johnson, 1862) Sharktooth Moray 2 1
Gymnothorax miliaris (Kaup, 1856) Goldentail Moray S13 2,4 1 1
Gymnothorax moringa (Cuvier, 1829) Spotted Moray S13 2,4 1 YES
Gymnothorax vicinus (Castelnau, 1855) Purplemouth Moray S13 2,4 1 1
Uropterygius macularius (Lesueur, 1825) Marbled Moray S13 2 1 1
Myctophidae
Centrobranchus nigroocellatus (Günther, 1873) Roundnose Lanternfish ROM
Neoscopelidae
Neoscopelus macrolepidotus Johnson, 1863 Largescale Blackchin CAS
Nomeidae
Psenes cyanophrys Valenciennes, 1833 Freckled Driftfish 2 1
Ogcocephalidae
Ogcocephalus nasutus (Cuvier, 1829) Shortnose Batfish 2 1
Ogcocephalus pumilus Bradbury, 1980 Dwarf Batfish CAS
Ophichthidae
Ahlia egmontis (Jordan, 1884) Key Worm Eel 2 1
Aprognathodon platyventris Böhlke, 1967 Stripe Eel 2 1
Callechelys guineensis (Osório, 1893) Shorttail Snake Eel 11 1
Echiophis intertinctus (Richardson, 1848) Spotted Spoon-nose Eel 2
Ichthyapus ophioneus (Evermann & Marsh, 1900) Surf Eel FlMNH
Myrichthys breviceps (Richardson, 1848) Sharptail Eel S13 2 SJ13
Myrichthys ocellatus (Lesueur, 1825) Goldspotted Eel 2 1
Myrophis anterodorsalis McCosker, Böhlke & Böhlke, 1989 Longfin Worm Eel S13 SJ28
Myrophis platyrhynchus Breder, 1927 Broadnose Worm Eel 2 1 YES
Myrophis punctatus Lütken, 1852 Speckled Worm Eel 2,11 1
Ophidiidae
Brotula barbata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Atlantic Bearded Brotula 2 1 -1
Lepophidium pheromystax Robins, 1960 Upsilon Cusk-eel 2 1
Luciobrotula corethromycter* Cohen, 1964 Broomnose Cusk-eel 9
Ophidion holbrookii Putnam, 1874 Bank Cusk-eel 2,3,11 1 -1
Parophidion schmidti (Woods & Kanazawa, 1951) Dusky Cusk-eel 1
Xyelacyba myersi* Cohen, 1961 Gargoyle Cusk-eel 9
Opistognathidae
Lonchopisthus micrognathus (Poey, 1860) Swordtail Jawfish S13 4 1 SJ28, SJ19 YES
Opistognathus aurifrons (Jordan & Thompson, 1905) Yellowhead Jawfish S13 2,4 1 YES
Opistognathus macrognathus Poey, 1860 Banded Jawfish S13 2,4,11 1 SJ5, SJ13, SJ19
Opistognathus maxillosus Poey, 1860 Mottled Jawfish S13 2 1 SJ5, SJ13, SJ19 1
Opistognathus whitehursti (Longley, 1927) Dusky Jawfish S13 1 SJ12
Ostraciidae
Acanthostracion polygonium Poey, 1876 Honeycomb Cowfish S13 2 1
Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758) Scrawled Cowfish S13 2 1
Lactophrys bicaudalis (Linnaeus, 1758) Spotted Trunkfish S13 2,4 1
Lactophrys trigonus (Linnaeus, 1758) Trunkfish S13 2,4 1
Lactophrys triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758) Smooth Trunkfish S13 2,4 1 1
Paralichthyidae
Citharichthys cornutus (Günther, 1880) Horned Whiff FMNH
Citharichthys uhleri Jordan, 1889 Voodoo Whiff FlMNH
Cyclopsetta fimbriata (Goode & Bean, 1885) Spotfin Flounder S14 2 1 SJ12, O14
Syacium micrurum Ranzani, 1842 Channel Flounder 2 1 YES
Parazenidae
Cyttopsis rosea (Lowe, 1843) Red Dory 5
Pempheridae
Pempheris schomburgkii Müller & Troschel, 1848 Glassy Sweeper S14 2,4 1 SJ13, ST3, SJ15 YES
Poeciliidae
Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859 Guppy S14 1 SJ10
Polymixiidae
Polymixia lowei Günther, 1859 Beardfish FlMNH, CAS
Polymixia nobilis Lowe, 1836 Noble Beardfish 5,8
Polynemidae
Polydactylus virginicus (Linnaeus, 1758) Barbu FlMNH
Pomacanthidae
Centropyge argi Woods & Kanazawa, 1951 Cherubfish S14 2,4,5,8 1 O21
Holacanthus ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) Queen Angelfish S14 2,4 1 1 YES
Holacanthus tricolor (Bloch, 1795) Rock Beauty S14 2,4,5,8 1 1
Pomacanthus arcuatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Gray Angelfish S14 2,4,5,8 1 1
Pomacanthus paru (Bloch, 1787) French Angelfish S14 2,4,5 1 1
Pomacentridae
Abudefduf saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) Sergeant Major S14 2,4,6 1 1 YES
Abudefduf taurus (Müller & Troschel, 1848) Night Sergeant S14 2,4 1 1
Azurina cyanea (Poey, 1860) Blue Chromis S14 2,4,8 1 1 YES
Azurina multilineata (Guichenot, 1853) Brown Chromis S14 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Chromis insolata (Cuvier, 1830) Sunshinefish S14 2,5,8 1 O20
Microspathodon chrysurus (Cuvier, 1830) Yellowtail Damselfish S14 2,4,5 1 1
Stegastes adustus (Troschel, 1865) Dusky Damselfish S14 2,4,6 1 1
Stegastes diencaeus (Jordan & Rutter, 1897) Longfin Damselfish S14 2,4 1 YES
Stegastes leucostictus (Müller & Troschel, 1848) Beaugregory S14 2,4 1 1 YES
Stegastes partitus (Poey, 1868) Bicolor Damselfish S14 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Stegastes planifrons (Cuvier, 1830) Threespot Damselfish S14 2,4 1 1 YES
Stegastes xanthurus (Poey, 1860) Cocoa Damselfish S14 2,4 1 1 YES
Priacanthidae
Heteropriacanthus cruentatus (Lacepède, 1801) Glasseye Snapper S15 2,4 1 1 YES
Priacanthus arenatus Cuvier, 1829 Bigeye S15 2 1 SJ24
Pristigenys alta (Gill, 1862) Short Bigeye 2 1
Rachycentridae
Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus, 1766) Cobia S15 ST3
Rhincodontidae
Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828 Whale Shark S15
Rivulidae
Kryptolebias marmoratus (Poey, 1880) Mangrove Rivulus 6 1
Sciaenidae
Corvula batabana (Poey, 1860) Blue Croaker 2,11 1
Eques lanceolatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Jackknife-fish S15 2,4 1 SJ30
Eques punctatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Spotted Drum S15 2,4 1 1
Odontoscion dentex (Cuvier, 1830) Reef Croaker S15 2,4 1 1
Pareques acuminatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) High-hat S15 2,4 1 1 YES
Umbrina coroides Cuvier, 1830 Sand Drum 2 1
Scomberesocidae
Scomberesox saurus (Walbaum, 1792) Atlantic Saury KU
Scombridae
Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier, 1832) Wahoo S15 2
Euthynnus alletteratus (Rafinesque, 1810) Little Tunny S15 2 1 YES
Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758) Skipjack Tuna S15 2
Scomberomorus brasiliensis Collette, Russo & Zavala-Camin, 1978 Serra 2 1
Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuvier, 1829) King Mackerel S15 2 SJ4, ST6
Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch, 1793) Cero S15 2,4 1
Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788) Yellowfin Tuna S15 2
Thunnus atlanticus (Lesson, 1831) Blackfin Tuna S15 2 1
Scorpaenidae
Pontinus castor Poey, 1860 Longsnout Scorpionfish 2 1
Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) Red Lionfish S15 1 YES
Scorpaena albifimbria Evermann & Marsh, 1900 Coral Scorpionfish S15 2,11 1 O8
Scorpaena bergii Evermann & Marsh, 1900 Goosehead Scorpionfish FlMNH
Scorpaena brasiliensis Cuvier, 1829 Barbfish 2,11 1
Scorpaena calcarata Goode & Bean, 1882 Smoothhead Scorpionfish 2,11 1
Scorpaena grandicornis Cuvier, 1829 Plumed Scorpionfish 2,6 1
Scorpaena inermis Cuvier, 1829 Mushroom Scorpionfish S15 2 1 SJ5
Scorpaena plumieri Bloch, 1789 Spotted Scorpionfish S15 2,4 1 1
Scorpaenodes caribbaeus Meek & Hildebrand, 1928 Reef Scorpionfish S15 2 1 SJ34, SJ23, SJ13 1
Serranidae
Alphestes afer (Bloch, 1793) Mutton Hamlet S16 2 1 SJ23 1
Bullisichthys caribbaeus Rivas, 1971 Pugnose Bass 5,8
Cephalopholis cruentata (Lacepède, 1802) Graysby S16 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Cephalopholis fulva (Linnaeus, 1758) Coney S16 2,4,5,8 1 1
Diplectrum bivittatum (Valenciennes, 1828) Dwarf Sand Perch S16 2 1 1 YES
Diplectrum formosum (Linnaeus, 1766) Sand Perch 4 1
Epinephelus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765) Rock Hind S16 2,4 1 SJ22, SJ15 1
Epinephelus guttatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Red Hind S16 2,4,5,8 1 1
Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822) Atlantic Goliath Grouper S16 2
Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes, 1828) Red Grouper S16 2 1
Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792) Nassau Grouper S16 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Hypoplectrus aberrans Poey, 1868 Yellowbelly Hamlet S16 2,4 1 1
Hypoplectrus chlorurus (Cuvier, 1828) Yellowtail Hamlet S16 2,4,5,8 1
Hypoplectrus guttavarius (Poey, 1852) Shy Hamlet S16 2,4 1 SJ19, ST6
Hypoplectrus indigo (Poey, 1851) Indigo Hamlet S16 2,4 1
Hypoplectrus nigricans (Poey, 1852) Black Hamlet S16 2,4 1 1
Hypoplectrus puella (Cuvier, 1828) Barred Hamlet S16 2,4 1 1
Hypoplectrus unicolor (Walbaum, 1792) Butter Hamlet S16 2,4 1 1
Hyporthodus mystacinus (Poey, 1852) Misty Grouper 2,8
Liopropoma mowbrayi Woods & Kanazawa, 1951 Cave Basslet 2,5
Liopropoma rubre Poey, 1861 Peppermint Basslet S16 2,4 1 ST1, SJ9, SJ13 1
Mycteroperca acutirostris (Valenciennes, 1828) Western Comb Grouper 2 1
Mycteroperca bonaci (Poey, 1860) Black Grouper S17 2 1 SJ33, O9, O10
Mycteroperca interstitialis (Poey, 1860) Yellowmouth Grouper S17 2,4,5 1 SJ7 YES
Mycteroperca tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) Tiger Grouper S17 2,5,8 1 O11, O12, O13 1
Mycteroperca venenosa (Linnaeus, 1758) Yellowfin Grouper S17 2,4,5,8 1 1 YES
Paranthias furcifer (Valenciennes, 1828) Atlantic Creolefish S17 2,5,8 1 SJ33
Pronotogrammus martinicensis (Guichenot, 1868) Roughtongue Bass 5
Rypticus bistrispinus (Mitchill, 1818) Freckled Soapfish S17 O14
Rypticus carpenteri Baldwin & Weigt, 2012 Slope Soapfish S17
Rypticus saponaceus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Greater Soapfish S17 2,4 1 1
Rypticus subbifrenatus Gill, 1861 Spotted Soapfish 2 1 1
Schultzea beta (Hildebrand, 1940) School Bass S17 2 1 O19 YES
Serraniculus pumilio Ginsburg, 1952 Pygmy Sea Bass S17 11 1 SJ19 YES
Serranus annularis (Günther, 1880) Orangeback Bass S17 2,11 1 O17
Serranus baldwini (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) Lantern Bass S17 2,4 1 SJ32, SJ12, SJ22 YES
Serranus luciopercanus Poey, 1852 Crosshatch Bass 2,5,8
Serranus phoebe Poey, 1851 Tattler 2 1
Serranus tabacarius (Cuvier, 1829) Tobaccofish S17 2,4 1 YES
Serranus tigrinus (Bloch, 1790) Harlequin Bass S17 2,4 1 1
Serranus tortugarum Longley, 1935 Chalk Bass S17 2,4,5 1 YES
Sparidae
Archosargus rhomboidalis (Linnaeus, 1758) Sea Bream S17 2,8 1 SJ13, SJ3
Calamus bajonado (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Jolthead Porgy S17 2 1
Calamus calamus (Valenciennes, 1830) Saucereye Porgy S17 2,4 1
Calamus penna (Valenciennes, 1830) Sheepshead Porgy S17 2,4 1
Calamus pennatula Guichenot, 1868 Pluma Porgy S17 2,4 1 YES
Calamus proridens Jordan & Gilbert, 1884 Littlehead Porgy CMN
Diplodus caudimacula (Poey, 1860) Silver Porgy S17 2,4,11 1 ST6
Sphyraenidae
Sphyraena barracuda (Edwards, 1771) Great Barracuda S17 2,4,5,6,8 1 YES
Sphyraena borealis DeKay, 1842 Sennet S17 2 1 SJ13, SJ12, SJ21
Sphyrnidae
Sphyrna lewini (Griffith & Smith, 1834) Scalloped Hammerhead 10 1
Sphyrna mokarran (Rüppell, 1837) Great Hammerhead 10
Spratelloididae
Jenkinsia lamprotaenia (Gosse, 1851) Dwarf Herring 2,6 1 1 YES
Jenkinsia parvula Cervigón & Velazquez, 1978 Shortstriped Round Herring 2
Jenkinsia stolifera (Jordan & Gilbert, 1884) Shortband Herring 2
Squalidae
Squalus cubensis Howell Rivero, 1936 Cuban Dogfish FlMNH
Sternoptychidae
Sonoda paucilampa Grey, 1960 Deepsea Hatchetfish NMNH
Stomiidae
Astronesthes similus Parr, 1927 Similar Snaggletooth NMNH
Syngnathidae
Amphelikturus dendriticus (Barbour, 1905) Pipehorse S18 SJ12
Bryx dunckeri (Metzelaar, 1919) Pugnose Pipefish S18 2 1 SJ13 1 YES
Cosmocampus brachycephalus (Poey, 1868) Crested Pipefish 2 1
Cosmocampus elucens (Poey, 1868) Shortfin Pipefish S18 2,4 1 SJ19
Cosmocampus profundus (Herald, 1965) Deepwater Pipefish 2
Halicampus crinitus (Jenyns, 1842) Banded Pipefish S18 SJ34, SJ13, SJ22
Hippocampus erectus Perry, 1810 Lined Seahorse 11 1 YES
Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933 Longsnout Seahorse S18 4 1 SJ19 YES
Microphis lineatus (Kaup, 1856) Opposum Pipefish S18 O23
Pseudophallus mindii (Meek & Hildebrand, 1923) Freshwater Pipefish 11
Syngnathus caribbaeus Dawson, 1979 Caribbean Pipefish S18 2 SJ21
Syngnathus dawsoni (Herald, 1969) Antillean Pipefish 2,4,11 1
Syngnathus pelagicus Linnaeus, 1758 Sargassum Pipefish ROM
Synodontidae
Saurida brasiliensis Norman, 1935 Largescale Lizardfish 2
Saurida suspicio Breder, 1927 Doubtful Lizardfish S18 2 1 SJ5, SJ13 YES
Synodus foetens (Linnaeus, 1766) Inshore Lizardfish S18 2 1 SJ5, SJ13 1 YES
Synodus intermedius (Spix & Agassiz, 1829) Sand Diver S18 2,4 1 1 YES
Synodus poeyi Jordan, 1887 Offshore Lizardfish 2
Synodus synodus (Linnaeus, 1758) Red Lizardfish S18 2 1 SJ11, SJ21 1
Trachinocephalus myops (Forster, 1801) Snakefish CAS
Tetraodontidae
Canthigaster rostrata (Bloch, 1786) Sharpnose Puffer S18 2,4,5,8 1 1
Sphoeroides spengleri (Bloch, 1785) Bandtail Puffer S18 2,4 1 1 YES
Sphoeroides testudineus (Linnaeus, 1758) Checkered Puffer S18 2,4,6 1 O15 1
Triakidae
Mustelus canis (Mitchill, 1815) Smooth Dogfish FlMNH
Triglidae
Peristedion longispatha Goode & Bean, 1886 Widehead Armored Searobin CAS
Tripterygiidae
Enneanectes altivelis Rosenblatt, 1960 Lofty Triplefin S18 2 1 1
Enneanectes atrorus Rosenblatt, 1960 Blackedge Triplefin 2,11 1
Enneanectes boehlkei Rosenblatt, 1960 Roughhead Triplefin S18 2 1 -1 YES
Enneanectes jordani (Evermann & Marsh, 1899) Mimic Triplefin S18 2 1 SJ21
Enneanectes matador Victor, 2013 Matador Triplefin S18 1 YES
Xiphiidae
Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758 Swordfish S18

Notes: Image voucher – supplementary plate number is given; photographer name is imbedded in each image. Literature source – 1 DeAngelis et al. (2008); 2 Dennis (2000); 3 Dennis et al. (2004); 4 Friedlander et al. (2013); 5 Garcia-Sais (2005); 6 Loftus (2003); 7 Mantatrust.org pers. comm. to DRR; 8 Nelson and Appledorn (1985); 9 Quatrinni et al. (2017); 10 Recksiek et al. (2006), 11 Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014); 12 Rogers et al. (2010). Online source – 1 indicates that an aggregator source exists, with the source named whenever it represents the sole voucher: AMNH (American Museum of Natural History); NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration); BOLD (Barcode of Life); FlMNH (Florida Museum of Natural History); MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology); NMNH (National Museum of Natural History); ANSP (Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia); CAS (California Academy of Sciences); ROM (Royal Ontario Museum); KUBI (University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute); CMN (Canadian Museum of Nature). Uncommon – species seen at 3 or less named sites by CJE and AME (see Suppl material 3: File S2a, b (for site codes) and Suppl. material 4: File S3). Ichthyocide – species collected by this method as noted in Dennis (2000); parentheses indicate ichthyocide was the only collection method noted by Dennis (2000). Gobiidae – we follow Thacker (2009) in including Cerdale and Ptereleotris among the Gobiidae. Hypoplectrus – we follow Puebla et al. (2022) in treating H. maculiferus as a synonym of H. aberrans.

Dennis (2000) listed 401 species from 216 genera and 79 families from those two islands (Table 2). We found records of an additional 159 species, producing an increase of 39.7% in the number of species, 37.0% in the number of genera and 36.7% in the number of families known from there (Table 3). The additions include 34 species for which the only source is a voucher image, 50 species recorded in post-2000 publications, and 49 species recorded only by online sources of museum (and other) data (Table 3). Of the 561 in Table 2, 24.6% were uncommon. Although 30.1% were collected using rotenone, species accounts by Dennis (2000) mentioned no other collecting method for only 10.4% of that subgroup of species. The 561 include three non-natives to the area (Oreochromis niloticus, Poecilia reticulata and Pterois volitans), 11 freshwater/estuarine species (Anguilla rostratus, Dormitator maculatus, Eleotris perniger, Gobiomorus dormitor, Awaous banana, Sicydium plumieri, Sicydium punctatum, Dajaus monticola, Microphis lineatus and Pseudophallus mindii and 547 marine species native to the GC.

Table 3.
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Fishes from St. John-Thomas recorded by different sources.

Types of fish taxa recorded Species Genera Families
Total from all sources 561 296 108
From Literature sources All 451 251 89
Dennis 2000 All 401 216 79
Sole source is Dennis 2000 164 126 55
Sources other than Dennis 2000 50 44 25
From Online sources All 453 253 97
Online sources only 50 46 42
From Images All 371 20 73
Images only 34 29 20
Deep species All sources 49 44 33
Recorded by Dennis 2000 19 18 13
Uncommon shallow species 138 104 45
Ichthyocide Collection All 173 99 45
Ichthyocide only 18 15 11
mtDNA BARCODES Species Genera Families
St. John-Thomas 156 93 41
Sole record is from barcode data 1 1 1
Puerto Rico 90 50 25
St. John-Thomas but not Puerto Rico 113 61 24
Puerto Rico but not St. John-Thomas 47 18 8
St. Croix 1 1 1
British Virgin Islands 3 2 1
All sites combined 207 112 49

Notes: Data sources (literature, online sources, images) are listed in Table 2. Deep species are those exclusively or typically found below 40 m depth. Uncommon shallow species are those found at 1–3 sites by CJE, AME, LR, and third-party photographers as indicated in Table 2. Ichthyocide collection: recorded as being collected with rotenone by a source cited by Dennis (2000). Ichthyocide only: the only collection method listed for a species from St. John-Thomas by Dennis (2000). DNA barcodes: (see Suppl. material 7: File S6). The single DNA Barcoded species collected at St. Croix (see Suppl. material 7: File S6) is not known from St. John-Thomas. The St. John-Thomas species count includes four identified only to genus. DNA barcode data for Pterois volitans are not included in this table.

Comparative taxonomic composition of the USVI fish faunas (Table 4, Suppl. material 5: File S4)

The species richness of the USVI marine fauna (i.e., the combined St. John-Thomas plus St. Croix faunas) was 15–20% greater than that of either of the two insular faunas (Table 4). Those two faunas had slightly higher relative rates of richness of genera and families than of species. The larger size of the USVI fauna of species derives from ~ 1/5 of species in each insular fauna not being present in the other, with lower proportions of genera and families also being recorded only at one of the two islands. Relative faunal richness at all three taxonomic levels and the relative abundance of taxa present at only one island were ~ 5% higher at St. Croix than St. John-Thomas. In both island faunas the relative representation of species, genera, and families in the entire USVI fauna was substantially greater among shallow species than deep species. The deep fauna was much smaller than the shallow fauna at each island and there was much less overlap in occurrence of species, genera, and families between the two insular deep faunas than between their shallow faunas (Table 4).

Table 4.
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Taxonomic comparisons of St. John-Thomas and St. Croix marine fish faunas.

Site Species Genera Families
Both US Virgin Islands
Entire fauna (n) 679 345 122
Shallow fishes (n) 590 279 90
Deep fishes (n) 89 77 54
St. John-Thomas
Entire Fauna (n) 547 283 105
Percent of USVI fauna 80.6 82.0 86.0
Percent only at St. John-Thomas 19.3 15.5 10.5
Shallow fishes (n) 497 245 86
Percent of USVI shallow fauna 84.2 86.6 94.5
Percent only at St. John-Thomas 13.0 7.4 1.9
Deep fishes (n) 50 44 34
Percent of USVI deep fauna 56.2 57.1 63.0
Percent only at St. John-Thomas 70.0 50.0 26.5
St. Croix
Entire fauna (n) 573 301 112
Percent of USVI fauna 84.5 87.2 91.8
Percent only at St. Croix 23.4 20.4 15.5
Shallow fishes (n) 519 256 88
Percent of USVI fauna 88.0 91.8 97.8
Percent only at St. Croix 18.3 13.1 2.7
Deep fishes (n) 54 50 39
Percent of USVI deep fauna 61.4 64.9 62.2
Percent only St. Croix 72.2 60.0 41.0

Notes: USVI fauna = combined fauna of St. John-Thomas and St. Croix, with exotic and primarily freshwater species excluded. Some genera and families have a deep member in one site but not the other, which affects USVI totals for deep and shallow genera and families. Shallow fishes: species exclusively or commonly found shallower than 40 m. Deep fishes: species exclusively or largely found deeper than 40 m (see methods for further details).

Ecotypic structure of the USVI reef-fish faunas vs. the region (Table 5, Suppl. material 6: File S5)

We compared the ecotypic structure of the St. John-Thomas and St. Croix faunas of reef-associated fishes with that of the GC fauna (see Robertson and Tornabene 2021). Both St. Croix and St. John-Thomas have faunas that are almost half the size of the total regional fauna, with the listed St. John-Thomas fauna being ~ 5% smaller than that of St. Croix (Table 5). Compared to the GC fauna both islands have slightly higher percentages of pelagic species, distinctly higher percentages of demersal species, and correspondingly lower percentages of benthic, cryptobenthic, small cryptobenthic, and CCRF species. These differences for non-pelagic types apply to each entire USVI fauna, and to both shallow- and deep-reef subgroups of those faunas. Both USVI sites also have markedly lower relative abundances (~ 1/3) of deep-reef species than the regional fauna. The relative abundances of different ecotypes are remarkably similar at both islands, except for the presence of a few deep cryptobenthic and CCRF species detected only at St. John-Thomas.

Table 5.
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Abundance of ecotypes of reef-associated bony fishes in the Greater Caribbean and the USVI.

Region St. John-Thomas St. Croix
All species (n) 992 470 493
Pelagic species % of fauna 8.0 10.4 10.3
Non-pelagic species % of fauna 92.0 89.6 89.7
Demersal species % 34.6 46.3 45.0
Benthic species % 65.4 53.7 55.0
Cryptobenthic species % 64.6 53.0 54.3
Small cryptobenthic species % 42.6 31.6 32.5
CCRF species % 45.9 36.3 35.7
SHALLOW NON-PELAGIC SPECIES (n) 772 400 424
Percent of fauna 84.6 95.0 95.9
Demersal species % 34.9 45.3 44.0
Benthic species % 65.1 54.7 56.0
Cryptobenthic species % 64.0 54.3 55.2
Small cryptobenthic species % 42.5 33.3 34.0
CCRF species % 46.0 37.5 37.3
DEEP NON-PELAGIC SPECIES (n) 141 21 18
Percent of fauna 15.4 5.0 4.2
Demersal species % 33.3 66.7 66.7
Benthic species % 66.7 33.3 33.3
Cryptobenthic species % 66.7 33.3 33.3
Small cryptobenthic species % 43.3 4.8 0
CCRF species % 45.4 19.0 0

Notes: Data for the region pattern are from Robertson and Tornabene (2021), for St. Croix are from Robertson et al. (2022), and for St. John-Thomas are in File S5. Bold percentages indicate whether the value(s) for either the region or the USVI islands were > 5% higher than the value(s) for the other group in each case.

Zoogeographic structure of the USVI faunas (Table 6)

The zoogeographic structures of the faunas of the two USVI sites and nearby Sint Eustatius are quite similar (Table 6). Species that are endemic to the Greater Caribbean and, in a few cases, surrounding areas are the largest group in all three faunas, with West Atlantic species also found in Brazil being the second largest by a small margin in each case. The two smallest groups in each case are Trans-Atlantic and Atlantic & Indo-Pacific. The ranks of those four groups are the same in all three faunas, a measure of their strong similarities.

Table 6.
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Zoogeographic composition of the USVI and Sint Eustatius faunas. Percentage of species in each category. Non-native species are not included.

Site (n) Northwest Atlantic Western Atlantic Trans-Atlantic Atlantic & Indo-Pacific
St. Croix (534) 41.6 33.9 13.9 10.6
St. John-Thomas (558) 39.5 36.5 14.0 10.0
Sint Eustatius (406) 41.1 33.3 15.3 10.3

Notes: St. Croix data are from Smith-Vaniz and Jelks 2014. Sint Eustatius values are from Robertson et al. (2020). St. John-Thomas values are from the present study. Northwestern Atlantic = Greater Caribbean, with or without range extensions to the north of that region. Western Atlantic = Northwestern Atlantic + Brazil. Trans-Atlantic = anywhere in the western Atlantic + any of the islands of the central Atlantic and/or the Eastern Atlantic. Atlantic & Indo-Pacific = Anywhere in the Western Atlantic + anywhere in the Indo-Pacific.

mtDNA-Barcode Coverage (Tables 2, 3; Suppl. material 7: File S6)

Table 2 indicates which members of the St. John-Thomas fauna have mtDNA-barcode sequences on the BOLD database derived from specimens collected at that site. Table 3 presents a summary of taxa that have sequences obtained from St. John-Thomas, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands and St. Croix, singly and in combination. File S6 provides technical information about those barcode data for the various species. We obtained local DNA-barcodes for 156 fish species in 156 BINs from St. John-Thomas, with one additional from St. Croix, and three additional species from around the British Virgin Islands (total 160 species). Of these, two are only from GenBank records harvested by BOLD, and 10 are added from specimens collected in offshore larval plankton tows described in Lamkin et al. (2009). We obtained 91 species records (including one non-native, Pterois volitans) for Puerto Rico, 44 of them shared with the Virgin Islands. Of the 91, 27 are added from Harms-Tuohy et al. (2016), 14 from GenBank records harvested by BOLD, and seven from other sources, including the University of Kansas (UKFBJ), Smithsonian (Bermingham/Lessios; BSMUA & BSOPA), the Guy Harvey Research Institute (Hanner et al. 2011; EBFSF), and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (GOBY) in Australia.

The available DNA-barcode sequence records from specimens collected at St. John-Thomas represent coverage of 27.8% of the species, 31.4% of the genera and 38% of the families of fishes known from that site. Barcode records represent the sole source of information on the presence of one species known from those islands and are also available for another four species currently identifiable only to genus. Distinctly fewer species have been barcoded from fish taken at Puerto Rico, and there are almost no such data available from either St. Croix or the British Virgin Islands. Barcode records from Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands exist for 52 species occurring in St. John-Thomas but not sequenced from there, bringing the total PRP DNA-barcoded species to 36.5% of St. John-Thomas fauna. All but seven of the 200 barcoded species are reef-associated bony fishes. The vast majority (98.5%) of barcoded species are shallow forms. Deep-living species are especially under-represented among the barcoded forms: only three of 51 such species have barcode data (File S6).

Discussion

St. Croix

The species records we have added increased the size of that island’s fauna by 7.5%. Almost a third of the additions arise from voucher photographs of shallow-reef species photographed by CJE and AME (and provided by Mantatrust.org). Those include several not accepted by Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) due to inadequate information available at that time. Cryptobenthic fishes, which, by definition, are generally difficult to observe, are a major component of Greater Caribbean reef-fish faunas, including that of St. Croix. Such species comprised all but one of those added by CJE and AME. The exception, Kyphosus cinerascens, may have been misidentified previously, since the taxonomic status and global distributions of members of the genus were only comprehensively reviewed by Knudsen and Clements (2016), after Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) published their checklist. Almost half the additions were deep-living species, one third of which were recorded only by submersible or ROV, with the remainder coming from online and literature records.

The process of obtaining location records is an ongoing one for online aggregators, which have vastly increased the amounts of data they host during the last half decade. Although the aggregators offer such information, and are involved in collaborative data sharing, such sharing is sufficiently incomplete that it is necessary to examine records from multiple aggregators to obtain a comprehensive picture of all the data available for any particular site. Even “old” data becomes newly available on the aggregators from time to time and needs to be included in faunal inventories of well-studied sites. The increase in faunal size, although not large in percentage terms, demonstrates the utility of citizen-science efforts to provide photographic vouchers, of reviews of submersible and ROV studies of deep-living fishes, and of periodic evaluations of information available online from aggregators.

St. John-Thomas

Although the 401 species list for this site extracted from Dennis (2000) was substantial (74% the size of Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) count for St. Croix), our use of the same methods as those that produced an increase in the St. Croix fauna produced a much larger increase in the St. John-Thomas fauna: 40% vs. 7.5% for St. Croix. Dennis (2000) was the sole source for 29% of species recorded in our expanded list of the St. John-Thomas fauna. Records from additional sources brought the size of the St. John-Thomas fauna to within 5% of the size of the St. Croix fauna. Citizen-scientists’ photographic records accounted for 22% of the new additions and data only available from online databases for 33%, while other literature sources provided the sole records for 32% of the additional species. Multiple types of sources accounted for the remaining 13% of new records.

The size, and taxonomic- and ecotypic structure of the two USVI marine faunas

Both insular marine faunas are over 80% the size of the combined USVI fauna in terms of species richness. Species found at only one of the two islands represent ~ 20% of each fauna. For shallow species the size of each insular fauna is 85–90% that of the combined fauna, with correspondingly lower rates of occurrence at only one island. Two factors may contribute to these differences between the island faunas: variation in ecological conditions between the islands and inadequate sampling. The possibility of differing ecological conditions seems small as both islands have the same range of large-scale habitat types, although those vary in abundance between the islands. The shelf area of St. John-Thomas is close to 10 times the size of the St. Croix shelf, yet the former has the smaller known fauna. At both islands the great majority of sampling has occurred in quite shallow water, often very close to shore in the case of St John-Thomas. Shelf habitats likely are under-sampled at both islands, strongly so at St. John-Thomas, where there are large areas of habitat between 40–60 m depth some distance from the islands on both the northern and southern parts of the PRP. At St. Croix most shallow sampling has occurred in and near the Buck Island Reef National Monument, rather than spread around different parts of the platform and different sides of the island. Hence both insular faunas likely are larger than indicated here, particularly in the case of St. John-Thomas.

Review of the two USVI marine species lists show that species not shared between the two islands are distributed through many genera and families (Suppl. material 5: File S4; Table 4). None are endemic to either USVI island and single-island endemics are rare amongst the Greater Caribbean fauna and limited to highly isolated islands such as Cayman. Most species in that region have geographic ranges much larger than the USVIs. The larger size of the St. Croix fauna, particularly of cryptobenthic species can be attributed to a greater effort to find such species. This was done using rotenone during two intensive sampling campaigns that occurred ~ 40 y after rotenone sampling at St. John-Thomas, plus some subsequent minor efforts in the shallow part of a Buck Island Reef National Monument that, in its entirety constitutes ~ 1/3 of the St. Croix insular platform: 46% (262) of the native marine species known from St. Croix are shallow species collected using rotenone (Smith-Vaniz and Jelks 2014), vs. 31.7% (173) of such species from St. John-Thomas. Later sampling by Pittman et al. (2008) at the same small, shallow St. Croix site as studied by Smith-Vaniz et al. (2006) added 10.9% more species to the tally of the first two series of collections. Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) produced a list of 41 species from 22 families that, at that time, were known from St. John-Thomas but not St. Croix. Since then, five of the 35 shallow species on that table have been added to the St. Croix fauna (Table 1 here), together with two others that were listed as unconfirmed by those authors. Photographic sampling of shallow reef fishes at St. John-Thomas by CJE, AME and other citizen scientists, by itself increased the size of the fauna registered by Dennis (2000) by 8.5%. Finally, the species composition of local reef-fish faunas can change substantially through time at intensively sampled sites, for varying reasons (e.g., see changes registered by Starck et al. 2017 over a 50y period), highlighting the utility of temporally dispersed sampling. With further sampling many shallow species currently known from only one of the USVI should be expected to be found at the other, in which case the shallow faunas of each island would be 10–15% larger than the current figures.

The deep-species fauna represents only 13.1% of the entire (shallow plus deep) USVI fauna and deep species exhibit much lower rates of faunal overlap between the two islands than occurs among shallow species. The two islands have experienced low rates of exploration of deep habitats, particularly deep reefs, by submersibles and ROVs, which were limited to observational studies. The few ROV (Quattrini et al. 2017) and submersible dives (Nelson and Appeldoorn 1985; Garcia-Sais 2005) were the sole source of only 11.1% and 28% of records of deep fishes at St. Croix and St. John-Thomas, respectively. The edges of the insular platforms of the two USVIs are < 50 km apart and the suite of deep species involved have ranges much larger than the area occupied by the USVI. Low levels of sampling can account for the small size of both USVI deep faunas, particularly the deep-reef component, and to the low level of overlap between the deep faunas of the two islands.

At both USVI sites the deep-reef species represent only 4.2–5% of the entire local reef-fish fauna, i.e., ~ 1/3 of the percentage for the GC regional fauna (Robertson et al. 2022). In contrast, when intensive submersible collecting and observations have been aimed specifically at assessing the diversity of deep-reef fish faunas, such as has occurred at other Caribbean islands (Curacao, Roatan and Sint Eustatius), the inventory of deep-reef species at individual islands has increased ~ 9 fold, with such species representing 16% of the entire (shallow plus deep) reef-fish fauna at the most intensively sampled island (Robertson et al. 2022), i.e., more than three times the level at each USVI. Similar sampling at both USVI undoubtedly will increase the absolute and relative sizes of their deep-reef faunas. Smith-Vaniz and Jelks (2014) concluded that there was no indication at the time of their study that the St. Croix fauna had reached asymptotic size. The additions reported here and patterns of variation in faunal composition between the two islands support that view for St. John-Thomas as well as St. Croix.

Reef-associated bony fishes comprised 84% and 91%, respectively, of the faunas of St. John-Thomas and St. Croix, and the St. John-Thomas reef-fish fauna was 94.3% the size of the equivalent fauna of St. Croix. The ecotypic structure of those two USVI reef-fish faunas was very similar, with both differing from the broad structure of the GC regional fauna by having larger proportions of pelagic and demersal species that are readily visible to observers and correspondingly smaller proportions of cryptic species. Similarities in the zoogeographic structures and sizes of the two USVI faunas support the view that both can be considered to be sampled with a similar level of efficiency, at least in terms of their shallow faunas.

mtDNA-barcode coverage

In terms of the availability of DNA-barcodes for marine fishes, the Greater Caribbean currently is the most well-sampled large marine biogeographic region in the tropics, with ~ 90% of the shore-fishes barcoded and up to 95% of the shallow reef-associated species (Victor et al. 2015). However, several specific locations account for the vast majority of sequences. Those include Florida, Yucatan (Mexico), Belize, Panama, and Curacao; with species lists published for Yucatan by Valdez-Moreno et al. (2010) and lists for additional locations in Weigt et al. (2012). The Puerto Rican Plateau has been only lightly sampled, with information derived mostly from older collections by author BV at St. John-Thomas and Puerto Rico, and from a set of lionfish stomach contents from La Parguera in Puerto Rico sequenced by Harms-Tuohy et al. (2016). The latter identified 39 species from 16 families. A few additional sequences come from open-ocean sampling for larvae around the USVI, by Lamkin et al. (2009). The older collections from St. Thomas and Puerto Rico were collected by BV for recruitment and otolith studies as well as some taxonomic reviews (e.g., the genera Coryphopterus and Emblemariopsis). The recent additions of 19 species from St. John were collected by CJE and AME mainly for DNA confirmation of the species identification of diagnostic underwater photographs that serve as vouchers here, mostly of cryptobenthic fishes. No collections at St. John-Thomas or elsewhere on the PRP that provided DNA barcodes were expressly made for assembling an inventory of fish species- hence the absence of some of the most abundant and widespread shallow reef fishes in the barcode list presented here (e.g., the Bluehead Wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum).

We cannot directly compare barcode coverage of fishes at St. John-Thomas with that at other intensively barcoded locations noted above because neither the number of barcoded species nor the local species inventory have been comparably evaluated at any of those sites. The results of the present assessment of DNA-barcode coverage for the USVI and the remainder of the PRP highlight the usefulness of the DNA-barcode database for ancillary projects. Accumulating sequences for unrelated purposes, such as taxonomic reviews, stomach-content studies, larval or e-DNA surveys (environmental DNA, where water is sampled for dissolved DNA sequences), augments the general DNA-barcode coverage for specific biogeographic regions and helps confirm species identifications for faunal surveys.

Permits

Collections from St. John in 2021 were made under National Park Service Collecting Permit VIIS-2021-SCI-0006: We especially thank Thomas Kelley (Virgin Islands NP/Virgin Islands Coral Reef NM) for facilitating that work.

Acknowledgements

CJE and AME greatly appreciate the assistance, knowledge, photographic contributions, and camaraderie of various people and organizations in the USVI: Alasdair Dunlap-Smith for logistical support, help with collections and photographic contributions; Miguel Andres Goolishian Hernandez for assistance with diving and photo contributions; the owners and staff of Low Key Watersports’ on St. John and to St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures on St. Croix; Bogie’s Villa for logistical support at St. John. Thanks to Caroline Rogers, Chris Rapchick, Serenity Mitchell, Spencer Riley, Max Koestenblatt, Cristina Kessler,Jenny Keith, Nicole Krampitz, Sara Richter and Jamie Irving (see File S2C) for contributing voucher images, to Rafe Boulon for information about USVI fishes and to Guy Stevens and Nicole Pelletier of Mantatrust.org for providing photographic documentation of mobulid rays at the USVI. We also appreciate the cooperation of J. Lamkin, as well as T. Girard, E. Malka, A. Shiroza, L. Vasquez-Yeomans, and G. Zapfe for providing information on larvae from the NOAA SEFSC NMFS Miami Larval Fish collection (funded by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, NOAA NMFS SEFSC, and University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies). Thanks also to Andrew Bentley (Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas), Amy Driskell (LAB, National Museum of Natural History), Chelsea Harms-Tuohy (Isla Mar Research Expeditions, Rincon, PR) and Eric Post (FFWCC, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, FL) for access to barcodes and information and discussion for assigning them to species.

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Supplementary materials

Supplementary material 1 

Plates S1–S18

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: images (jpg. images in ZIP arhiv)

Explanation note: Fishes of St. Croix (Plate S1), fishes of St. John-Thomas (Plates S2–S18).

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (61.62 MB)
Supplementary material 2 

File S1

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: image (jpg file)

Explanation note: Bathymetry of the US Virgin Islands.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (315.18 kb)
Supplementary material 3 

File S2

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: GPS data (excel file)

Explanation note: File S2A: Georeferencing coordinates and site codes for dive sites of authors Carlos and Allison Estapé at St John, St Thomas and St. Croix during 2021. File S2B: Georeferencing coordinates and site codes for dive sites used by non-author photographers at St John-Thomas. File S2C: Names and emails of third party Citizen Scientists who provided voucher images of various St John-Thomas fishes.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (19.17 kb)
Supplementary material 4 

File S3

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: GPS data (kmz. file)

Explanation note: KMZ file of USVI dive sites.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (4.61 kb)
Supplementary material 5 

File S4

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: occurrences (excel file)

Explanation note: File S4. Native marine fish faunas of St. John-Thomas and St. Croix.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (34.47 kb)
Supplementary material 6 

File S5

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: occurenses (excel file)

Explanation note: Ecological Characteristics of Reef-Associated Bony Fishes from St John-Thomas. See Methods of paper for details.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (47.09 kb)
Supplementary material 7 

File S6

D. Ross Robertson, Carlos J. Estapé, Allison M. Estapé, Lee Richter, Ernesto Peña, Benjamin Victor

Data type: genomic (excel file)

Explanation note: File S6: mtDNA-Barcode information for fishes from islands on the Puerto Rico Platform (St John-Thomas, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands) and St. Croix. For coding of differently colored highlighting see bottom of table. For explanations of "Reef Associated" and "Deep" see main text.

This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited.
Download file (59.76 kb)
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