Ichthyofauna of the megadiverse Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Andean Amazon

Abstract

This study presents the results of a compilation of the existing fish records for the Madidi National Park and Natural Area for Integrated Management (PNANMI Madidi), as well as extensive ichthyological sampling by the Identidad Madidi expedition, and species identified in ichthyoplankton by the metabarcoding approach. The current list has a total of 333 species for the protected area, across 43 families and within 13 orders. The list also includes 35 new candidate species still to be described. The highest number of species is found within the order Characiformes (139 species; 41.7%), followed by Siluriformes (137 species; 41.1%), and Cichliformes (19 species; 5.7%), which together represent 88.6% of total species richness. The remaining species (11.4%) are distributed across another 10 orders. The families with the highest number of species are Characidae (73 species; 21.9%), Loricariidae (36; 10.8%), Heptapteridae (21; 6.3%), Pimelodidae (21; 6.3%), and Cichlidae (19; 5.7%). The list of 333 species presented here doubles the previously known ichthyofauna (161 species) in the PNANMI Madidi. The area covers 1.3% of the Madeira basin, but conserves 25% of the