A preliminary survey of the fish fauna in the vicinity of Santa Ana del Yacuma in Bolivia (río Mamoré drainage)

Abstract

The inventory of fish species of the río Mamoré sub-drainage in the Bolivian Amazon is far from being complete. This article informs about a small scale species inventory in the close vicinity of the town Santa Ana del Yacuma (drained by the río Yacuma, a left side tributary of the río Mamoré). Sampling four habitat types, 615 fish specimens belonging to 101 species were collected. Four species were reported for the first time from the río Mamoré sub-drainage: Aphyocharax rathbuni, Apistogramma erythrura, Apistogramma similis and Hyphessobrycon elachys. Differences in species composition among sampled habitats stress the importance of including a high number of collecting sites across biotic and abiotic environmental gradients to reliably survey species diversity.