The littoral fish assemblage of the Desventuradas Islands (Chile) has zoogeographical affinities with the Western Pacific

Abstract

Abstract A systematic account of fish species inhabiting waters surrounding the Desventuradas Islands, off Chile, is presented. The 61 species recognized belong to 33 families of Osteichthyes, and one of Chondrichthyes (Squalidae). It was found that the icthyofaunal links were stronger to the Western Pacific (90.7%) than to the Eastern Pacific (6.9%), despite the fact that these islands are much closer to the South American coast than to the coasts of Oceania. Hydrographic and physical barriers are postulated as explaining this pattern.