Explorations on Senegal in the Museum of Fishes of the Spanish Scientific
Research Council (CSIC) at Cádiz (Spain).
Enrique WULFF-BARREIRO
Marine Sciences Institute of Andalusia,
Spanish Council for Scientific Research. ICMAN (CSIC)
11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz). Spain.
SUMMARY
E-mail: enrique.wulff@icman.csic.es
The Fish Museum sited at the Institute of the Spanish Scientific
Research Council at Cádiz, where is preserved the holotype for
Neoharriota pinnata, provides the paradigm (Rey Lozano, 1928; Lozano
Cabo, 1950) on the transition zone between the Atlanto-Mediterranean
and the Tropical faunas. The Banc d’Arguin is the central area of
dispersion for the species. Added to the Internet Resource Guide for
Zoology of
BIOSIS and the Zoological Society of London, the
collection exposes 48 fishes from the Senegal coasts. Priacanthus
arenatus reveals its northern limit in the zone where it has been fished,
14º26’ and 12º51’. Gobius niger L., concerns to the species described
by F. De Buen, 1928. Erythrocles monodi, rarely captured far from the
south of C. Verde, belongs to an indopacific genera. Totally from
Senegal, and never up to the 17º parallel, Otoperca aurita. Own to the
fauna of Casablanca, and fished in april 1958 to the south of St. Louis,
Otolithus senegalensis. Very frequent facing Senegal, but captured at
the western Sahara and Mauritania, Parapristipoma mediterraneum and
Paracubiceps ledanoisi. The Pagellus erythrinus (L., 1758) in this
collection do display interesting differences in sizes with the senegals
ones, perhaps due to the prevalent regimes of temperature. For the
predictions
of
community-wide
character
displacement
a
Macrorhamphosus scolopax (L., 1758), substituted in Senegal by M.
Gracilis, Lowe, could be consulted. Captured in the Banc d’Arguin,
Anodontus mauritanicus is nov.gen. nov.sp. and Cottunculus costaecanariae is nov.sp. The collecting work was initiated by Dr.Cervigón,
now at the Marine Museum, Isla Margarita (Venezuela).
INTRODUCTION
The Fish Museum has been involved into Species 2000:
CODATA '99 DSAO Workshop,
14th "Global Environment Tsukuba"
This is a Library of Life requiring into the
6th European Research Framework Program:
The Fish Museum is seeking to be involved into
CODATA Africa activities
An “European Research Institution” status
The fish ages have had not been determined
A “Inadvertent collection””

The collection catalogue has never been published.
A global taxonomic review concerning it should be
performed as a policy at higher levels
Properties of a specimen from its information content
Specimen preserve complex information
Historical information preserved in collections ramifies through biology
Data quality – Specimen preservation maintains data quality
Table I. Percentage of the species caught in the Senegal River Basin (Mauritania, Senegal,
Guinea Bissau) vs those fished off the coasts of former Spanish Western Sahara territory,
CSIC expeditions from Cádiz between 1958 and 1959.
In Senegal coasts a computer facility for the interaction between
tropical and Atlanto-mediterranean faunas: The Lozano hypothesis
Senegal River Basin Coasts
Atlanto-Mediterranean fauna
Tropical fauna
Table II. Estimates of Meridional vs. Septentrional limits for Specimens
caught off Senegal (between 16º and 12º), CSIC expeditions from Cádiz between 1958 and 1959.
Former Spanish Sahara Coasts
34%
44%
Cosmopolitan fauna
Atlanto-Mediterranean fauna
Tropical fauna
22%
12%
Cosmopolitan fauna
Species
Latitude
Caught at
Substitute Species
Antigonia capros
19ºN (North limit)
14º26’N
Capros aper
Branchiostegus semifasciatus
20ºN (North limit)
14º27’N
Not indicated
Macrorhamphosus scolopax
17º N (South limit)
22º20’N
Macrorhamphosus gracilis
Merluccius senegalensis
22º29’ (North limit)
15º20’N
Merluccius merluccius
Otoperca aurita
17º (North limit)
13º-16ºN
It disappears
Priacanthus arenatus
15º (North limit)
14º26’N
It disappears
Pristipoma suillum
20º (North limit)
19º20’N
It disappears
Pterothrissus belloci
20º (North limit)
14ºN-16ºN
Not indicated
Scorpaena senegalensis
20º (North limit)
19º30’N
It disappears
Serranus cabrilla
19º (South limit)
19º17’N
Not indicated
Fistularia villosa (Klunzinger, 1871)
Sparus aurata
19º (South limit)
20ºN
Not indicated
Photo: J. Randall ©
Stromateus fiatola
20º (North limit)
20º30’N
Not indicated
Synagrops microlepis
19º (North limit)
12ºN-13ºN
Not indicated
53%
35%
Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1758)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Antigonia capros (Lowe, 1843)
Photo: J. Randall ©
Chilomycterus Antennatus (Cuvier, 1828)
Photo: J. Randall ©
Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1752)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Trigla sp. (Cuvier, 1828)
The 4 Fisheries research Institute (IIP, CSIC) spanish expeditions from
Cádiz south Bojador Cape (1958-1959)
Photo: J. Randall ©


The goals:
To
study the Senegalese hake.
To
explore the abundancy and diversity of species in the zooplankton.
To
enrich the distribution data and the systematic of the distinct fish species.
The reasons:
The
area between Cabo Juby and Cabo Verde offered a bottom fauna of special economic richness.
Spanish
Box boops (Linnaeus, 1758)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Cádiz
The
The bathymetric data produced by the expeditioners must be
shared and reused, checked for errors,
redisplayed within a GIS, and standardised.
and Portuguese did intensively fish in it.
and Huelva harbors were the main basis for these fleets.
Banc d’Arguin was not enough known.
A digital storing capacity for the Museum specimen data.
Dentex filosus (Valenciennes, 1836)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Basic fields: Species, Collecting from, Year, Nº of exemplars, Collected by
Table III. Bathymetric distribution of the species caught in the Senegal coasts (between 16º and
12º), CSIC expeditions from Cádiz between 1958 and 1959.
48 Species depicts research from Senegal (16º-12ºN)
Archival samples are all fixed in formaldehyde
16º N and from depths of 25 to 100 m:
Chaetodon hoefleri, Johnius regius, Monochirus ocellatus, Otolithus senegalensis, Otoperca
aurita, Pterothrissus belloci, Sardinella aurita
14º N and from depths of 100 to 200 m:
Prof. Cervigón collected 93%

having besides him Prof. Durán
Box Boops, Dentex filosus, Mustelus canis, Paracubiceps ledanoisi
Sardinella Aurita (Valenciennes 1847)
Photo: L.A. Cada ©
14º26’ and depths more than 300 m:
Antigonia capros, Merluccius senegalensis
Fauna off Senegal coasts
Senegal Fish Collection, (CSIC, Puerto Real)
Local niches
Senegal Bathymetric data
Collected from
(Latitude)
FAMILY Species
Pagellus erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1752)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Gobius sp. (Linnaeus, 1752)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Collected from
(Depth)
Year
Nº of
exemplars
Collected by
Cervigón
-
Size
ACANTHURIDAE:
Zeus faber (Linnaeus, 1758)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Trachinus radiatus (Cuvier, 1829)
Photo: C.L. Hernández-González ©
Acanthurus
monroviae
Steindachner,
1876
South Banc d'Arguin
29º30'N
(Tropical)
1958
February
1959 March
250 m
2
AMIIDAE:
Synagrops
microlepis
Norman,
1935
19º-19º30’N
Septentrional limit
250 m
1958
DuránCervigón
6
-
Fistularia villosa (Klunzinger, 1871)
Photo: L.A. Cada ©
ATELEOPODIDAE:
References.[1] Cervigón,F. [Fishes collected along the campaigns of the “Costa Canaria” from Bojador Cape to the Portuguese Guinea (West Africa) and some
considerations on their distribution.] Investigaciones Pesqueras, Tomo XVII, 33-107
.
[2] Lozano Rey,L. 1934. [Fisheries of the spanish Sahara.]. Madrid: España,Dirección General de Marruecos y Colonias.
[3] Cadenat,J. 1950. Poissons de mer du Sénégal. Dakar, I.F.A.N.
[4] Wulff-Barreiro,E. 2002. Pushing forward the library of the marine sciences institute of Andalusia (CSIC, Puerto Real). Managing information, Vol.9,
Nº2, 32-37,March. http://www.managinginformation.com/contentsmarch2002
[5] Paul D, Froese R & Palomares M.L. Fish on line. A draft guide to learning and teaching ichthyology using the FishBase information system
[http://www.fishbase.org/fish_on_line.htm].
[6] Briones,K. & Nieto,JJ. Digital Museum of Aquatic Organisms of Ecuador. IAMSLIC 2002. Mazatlan, Mexico.
http://132.248.118.15/Volumes/iamslic/Digital%20museum%20presentation.ppt
Anodontus mauritanicus
nov.gen.nov.sp.
Cervigón,
1961
19ºN
19º09'N
242 m
250 m
1959 March
1958
February
2
Cervigón
345
mm
295
mm