A review of eastern Pacific species of the genus Eugerres (Perciformes: Gerreidae)

Four nominal species of eastern Pacific Eugerres were reviewed for taxonomy and systematics based on type specimens and their respective diagnoses, as well as other material from their distributional range. Meristic characteristics, such as the number of gill rakers in the lower limb of the first branchial arch, were useful to separate three species: Eugerres lineatus (Humboldt, 1821) (15-19, mode 17), Eugerres axillaris (Günther, 1864) (11-14, mode 13), and Eugerres brevimanus (Günther, 1864) (12-13, mode 12), while Eugerres penche (Evermann and Radcliffe, 1917) was recognized as a synonym of E. brevimanus. Confusion in nomenclature due to erroneous gill raker numbers assigned to E. axillaris and E. lineatus by Meek and Hildebrand (1925) is clarified: E. lineatus has more than 15 gill rakers (not 11), and E. axillaris has 12 gill rakers (not 15). Eugerres brevimanus differs from others in its numerous pored scales, enlarged lips, and short pectoral fins. Canonical variate analysis with 21 box truss characters was performed, which classified the specimens into three distinct groups (P < 0.0000), with 96.4% correct classification. The most useful character for group classification was the distance between the last dorsal and first anal spine bases (P < 0.000007).