On November 24th, 2003 (the exact date of publication is important, see below!) the scientific description of two new species of killifish from Peru was published. Wilson J. E. M. Costa described and named the two species Moema hellneri and M. ortegai. M. hellneri originates from the Rio Napo drainage, whereas M. ortegai originates from the drainage of the Madre de Dios. The original scientific paper was illustrated only with very poor pictures of preserved specimens. The diagnoses of the species based on features not visible externally, mainly the dentition and the shape of the maxillary bones.

 

On November 12th, 2003 in the magazine "Freshwater and Marine Aquarium" (number 12, volume 26) the description of Moema quiii (no typo!) appeared. This species originates from the Rio Tambopata, which belongs to the Madre de Dios drainage in Peru. Author of M. quiii is J. H. Huber.

 

Both authors obviously did not know from each other. This simultaneous descriptions led to some confusion in the time following. Nobody knew exactly which name should be applied to the Moema sometimes imported from Peru. It s necessary to know that usually no information on the collecting sites of imported aquarium fish are available. So many reports on Moema from Peru still are bearing wrong names.

 

In the meantime it became clear that Moema ortegai and Moema quiii are the very same species. In such cases the elder name is the valid one, eg M. quiii. The fish we could import again now and which were named M. cf. ortegai by us are in fact M. hellneri.

 

We thank Steffen Hellner who informed us about the case described above.

 

Literature:

Costa, W. J. E. M. (2003): Two new annual fishes of the genus Moema Costa, 1989, from the Peruvian Amazon (Teleostei, Cyprinodontiformes, Rivulidae). Boletim do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Nova Serie. Zoologia No. 513: 1-10.

 

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer