taxonID	type	description	language	source
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	description	(Figures 10 and 11)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	materials_examined	Type. ZMB 38, 160 mm SL (Fig. 10), loc.: West Indies; ex coll.: Bloch.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus undecimalis can be recognized and distinguished from other species by the following characters: Western Atlantic: from C. irae, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 79 – 96), and 8 – 11 gill rakers on first arch (vs 7 – 8); from C. parallelus, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 64 – 70), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 13), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 13 – 18), longest anal-fin spine, when close to body (adpressed), not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin not reaching anus (vs pelvic fin reaching anus), and a more elongate and lower body (vs less elongate and higher body); from C. ensiferus, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 48 – 58), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 15), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), longest anal-fin spine, when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base), and a more elongate and lower body (vs less elongate and higher body); from C. pectinatus, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 52), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 20 – 23), longest analfin spine, when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin not reaching anus (vs pelvic fin reaching anus), a more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.9 % SL (vs less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8); from C. poeyi, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 69 – 74), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 18), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 68 – 76, usually 71 – 74), and 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9); from C. viridis, by having 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 15), second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9); from C. armatus, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 12), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 17), and longest anal-fin spine, when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base); from C. robalito, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 17), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 21 – 25), longest anal-fin spine, when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest spine of anal fin reaching caudal-fin base); from C. unionensis, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 46 – 52), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 14), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9); from C. medius, by having 61 – 79 (usually 66 – 75) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), 8 – 11 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 11 – 14 gill rakers on first arch (vs 18 – 23), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8). Molecular data. According to the COI sequences analysis, C. undecimalis forms a distinct cluster, with 99 % bootstrap value (Figure 8). The genetic distance between this species and other species of Centropomus ranged from 0.064 to 0.201 (Table 7). C. undecimalis is genetically the sister group of C. irae.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	description	Description. Morphometrics and meristics data are summarized in Tables 8, 9 and 10 on the basis of 113 specimens, 77 – 755 mm TL (233.4 mm average). Body elongate, head moderately compressed, head height 20.4 % SL (17.1 % – 28.7 %); body relatively low, deepest body depth 22.9 % SL (17.5 % – 30.0 %); largest specimen measured 628 mm SL. Lower jaw protractile, longer than upper jaw, extending beyond tip of snout. Snout narrow and long comprising in average 11.8 % (9.7 % – 14.4 %) of SL; eye relatively small, preoperculum margin heavily serrated in adults; operculum margin smooth, without spines, bordered by a membrane that extends beyond origin of pectoral fin. 2 – 6 small spines in dorsal part of operculum. Dorsal fins separated by a small gap, not connected by membrane, first dorsal fin VII – VIII, second dorsal fin I, 10 – I, 11. Pectoral fin with 14 – 16 rays, longest ray 18.3 % SL (13.4 % – 25.4 %), extending beyond origin of pelvic fin. Pelvic fin I, 5, longest pelvic ray not reaching anus. Anal fin III, 7 (rarely III, 6 or III, 8), longest spine, when adpressed, not reaching caudal-fin base. Caudal fin deeply forked; lateral line dark with ctenoid scales extending onto caudal fin. Lateral line with 61 – 79 scales to caudal-fin base, usually 66 – 75; 70 – 85 scales extending onto end of caudal fin. Scale rows between lateral line and origin of second dorsal fin 6 – 12, usually 9 – 11; scale rows between lateral line and origin of anal fin 8 – 15, usually 10 – 13. 7 – 14 (usually 8 – 11) lower limb gill rakers on first arch; 10 – 19 (usually 11 – 14) gill rakers on first arch, excluding rudiments; 11 – 20 (usually 17 – 19) gill rakers on second arch, including rudiments.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus undecimalis is the most widely distributed Atlantic species of the genus, occurring from North Carolina, USA, the Gulf of Mexico and Antilles, to Santa Catarina, occasionally reaching Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This distribution is in accordance with most previous studies (Meek & Hildebrand 1925; Cervigón 1966; Hoese & Moore 1977; Figueiredo & Menezes 1980; Guitart 1985; Rivas 1986; Carvalho-Filho 1999).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E45FF8FFF6B633FEB7D74BF.taxon	discussion	Remarks. The characters presented in the original description (Bloch, 1792) are not diagnostic. However, the diagnostic traits defined herein are supported by detailed descriptions of the holotype in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1828), Chávez (1961), and Rivas (1986).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	description	(Figure 12)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	materials_examined	Type. MPEG 30613, 326 mm SL (Fig. 12), loc.: Brazil, Amapá, Oiapoque, Baía do Oiapoque (Lat. 3.84 / Long. - 51.82), ex coll.: A. Costa and J. Oliveira, 23 February 2014.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus irae has the highest number of scales in lateral line when compared to all congeners. In addition, it can also be differentiated from congeners as follows: Western Atlantic: from C. undecimalis, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 66 – 75), and 7 – 8 low limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 11); from C. parallelus, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudalfin base (vs 64 – 70), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 13), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 13 – 18), the longest anal-fin spine when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin not reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin reaching the anus), and a more elongate and low body, with a mean body height of 22.3 % SL (vs less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL; from C. ensiferus, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 48 – 58), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 15), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), the longest anal-fin spine when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base), and a more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.3 % SL (vs less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 25.9 % SL); from C. pectinatus, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 52), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), by 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 20 – 23), the longest anal-fin spine when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin not reaching anus (vs pelvic fin reaching anus), a more elongated and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.3 % SL (vs less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8); from C. poeyi, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 69 – 74), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 18), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 68 – 76), and 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9); from C. viridis, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 67 – 75), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 15), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. armatus, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 12), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 17), and the longest anal-fin spine when close to the body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base); from C. robalito, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 17), 11 – 13 gill rakers on the first arch (vs 21 – 25), and the longest anal-fin spine when close to body (adpressed) not reaching caudal-fin base (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base); from C. unionensis, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 46 – 52), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 14), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. medius, by having 79 – 96 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch (vs 18 – 23), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8). Molecular data. Specimens of C. irae form a strong supported cluster in the COI sequences analysis, with 100 % bootstrap value (Figure 8). The genetic distance between this species to C. armatus is 0.187 and to C. ensiferus is 0.191 (Table 7). Centropomus irae is genetically the sister group of C. undecimalis.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	description	Description. Morphometrics and meristics data are summarized in Tables 8, 9 and 10 on the basis of 16 specimens, 171 – 330 mm TL (240 mm average). Body elongate, largest specimen measured 265 mm SL, head compressed and low, head height 20.4 % SL (18.1 % – 22.0 %); body very low, body height 22.3 % SL (20.2 % – 23.9 %). Head length comprising 37.7 % (36.6 % – 40.0 %) of SL. Lower jaw protractile, longer than upper jaw, extending beyond tip of snout. Snout narrow and long, snout length 12.0 % SL (11.3 % – 12.7 %); eye very small, mean orbital diameter 6.8 % HL. Preoperculum serrated in adults; operculum smooth, without spines, bordered by a membrane that extends beyond origin of pectoral fin. Presence of small spines in dorsal part of operculum. Caudal peduncle long, mean caudal peduncle length 19.6 % SL (18.3 % – 21.8 %). Dorsal fins separated by a small gap, not connected by membrane, first dorsal fin VIII, second dorsal fin I, 11. Pectoral fin with 13 – 15 rays, longest ray 16.1 % SL (13.3 % – 17.7 %), extending beyond origin of pelvic fin and first dorsal fin. Pelvic fin with I, 5, longest ray not reaching anus. Anal fin with III, 7 – III, 8, longest spine not reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed, longest spine of anal fin 18.3 % (15.8 % – 23.3 %) of SL. Caudal fin deeply forked. Dark lateral line, linear, with ctenoid scales extending onto caudal fin. Lateral line with 79 – 96 scales to caudal-fin base. Scale rows between lateral line and origin of second dorsal fin 8 – 9; scale rows between lateral line and origin of anal fin 10 – 12. 7 – 8 lower limb gill rakers on first arch; 4 – 5 upper limb gill rakers on first arch; 11 – 13 gill rakers on first arch, excluding rudiments; 12 – 20 gill rakers on second arch, including rudiments.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus irae is endemic to the north coast of Brazil, known from the state of Amapá, in Oiapoque river estuary, to Pará.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E47FF88FF6B635BEB477688.taxon	discussion	Remarks. Oliveira et al. (2014) firstly suggested the existence of an undescribed species of Centropomus, similar to C. undecimalis, in the north coast of Brazil. This species was later described as Centropomus irae by Carvalho-Filho et al. (2019) based on morphological traits and a partial sequence of the mitochondrial 16 S gene. However, the description of C. irae was mostly based on the characters proposed by Rivas (1986), such as color of lateral line, interorbital width, snout length, orbital diameter, mandible length, which are non-informative characters to differentiate species of Centropomus.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	description	(Figure 13)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	materials_examined	Type. MCZ 10307, 228 mm SL (Fig. 13), loc.: Havana, Cuba, ex coll.: Poey. Poey (1860) described C. parallelus based on 150 mm TL specimen, collected off Cienfuegos, Cuba. Howell-Rivero (1938) proposed that a specimen deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ 10271) was the holotype. Rivas (1986) rejected the specimen as holotype, due to discrepancies in characters of the original description. The neotype (MCZ 10307), designated by Rivas (1986), is a 228 mm SL specimen also from Cuba, which conforms to the original description of the species.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus parallelus differs from its congeners as follows: Western Atlantic: from C. undecimalis, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 61 – 79, usually 66 – 75), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 11), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin usually reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching anus), and a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.9 % SL; from C. irae, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 79 – 96), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 7 – 8), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 13), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin usually reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching the anus), and a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.3 % SL); from C. ensiferus, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 48 – 58), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 15), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), and pelvic fin usually reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin usually not reaching the anus); from C. pectinatus, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 52), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 20 – 23), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8); from C. poeyi, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 69 – 74), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), pelvic fin usually reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching anus), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 68 – 76), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9), and the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base); from C. viridis, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 67 – 75), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9); from C. armatus, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59); from C. robalito, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 17), and 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 21 – 25); from C. unionensis, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 46 – 52), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (rarely I, 10) (vs I, 9); from C. medius, by having 60 – 88 (usually 64 – 70) scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), 10 – 13 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 13 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 18 – 23), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8). Molecular data. Specimens of C. undecimalis forms a distinct cluster in the COI sequences analysis, with 100 % bootstrap value (Figure 8). The genetic distance between this species and other species of Centropomus ranged from 0.142 to 0.184 (Table 7). The C. paralleus clade is the sister group of a large clade that includes C. undecimalis, C. irae, C. nigrescens, C. viridis, C. pectinatus and C. medius.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	description	Description. Morphometrics and meristics data are summarized in Tables 8, 9 and 10 on the basis of 182 specimens, 44.4 – 432 mm TL (201.8 mm average). Body high, mean body height 26.6 % SL (10.0 % – 31.0 %); body slightly elongate, head moderately elongate, mean head length 37.6 % SL (29.6 % – 71.3 %); head moderately high, mean head height 24.2 % SL (18.9 % – 28.4 %); largest specimen measured 357 mm SL. Lower jaw protractile, slightly longer than upper jaw, extending beyond tip of snout. Snout narrow and long, mean snout length 11.4 % SL (7.6 % – 22.5 %); eye relatively small, mean orbital diameter 19.1 % HL. Preoperculum heavily serrated in adults; operculum smooth, without spines, bordered by a membrane that extends beyond origin of pectoral fin; 3 – 8 small spines in dorsal part of operculum. Dorsal fins separated by a small gap, not connected by membrane, first dorsal fin VII – IX, second dorsal fin I, 10 – I, 12. Pectoral fin with 13 – 16 rays, longest ray extending beyond origin of pelvic fin. Pelvic fin I, 5, longest ray usually reaching anus. Anal fin III, 7 (rarely III, 6 or III, 8), second spine usually longer than first spine; longest spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed. Caudal fin deeply forked. Lateral line slightly arched with ctenoid scales, extending onto caudal fin. Lateral line with 60 – 88 scales to caudal-fin base, usually 64 – 70; 64 – 90 scales extending onto end of caudal fin. Scale rows between lateral line and origin of second dorsal fin 8 – 14; scale rows between lateral line and origin of anal fin 10 – 15. 8 – 13 (usually 10 – 13) lower limb gill rakers on first arch; 12 – 18 (usually 13 – 18) gill rakers on first arch, excluding rudiments; 12 – 21 (usually 18 – 20) gill rakers on second arch, including rudiments.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus parallelus occurs between the southeastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico, the Antilles, and Santa Catarina, Brazil. The distribution of C. parallelus is in accordance with previous records in the literature (Meek & Hildebrand 1925; Cervigón 1966; Figueiredo & Menezes 1980; Guitart 1985; Rivas 1986; Carvalho-Filho 1999).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E40FF8AFF6B670CEB0B7718.taxon	discussion	Remarks. Rivas (1986) stated that it is possible to differentiate C. parallelus from C. mexicanus based on scale counts in lateral line, above lateral line, below lateral line, and around the caudal peduncle, and that both species are sympatric in the Atlantic. However, as shown here, these characters exhibit high overlap and large variation within species and thus are non-informative for species diagnosis. Rivas (1986) also stated that the number of scales in the lateral line is the main character for separation between the two species, with C. parallelus having 79 – 92 scales and C. mexicanus 68 – 78 scales. This character is also presented in the description of their type specimens, C. parallelus with 85 scales and C. mexicanus with 67 scales, although Rivas (1986) noticed counting discrepancies between the original description of C. parallelus and its holotype (MCZ 10271). Previous studies indeed indicate a strong variation in the number of lateral line scales of C. parallelus (Meek & Hildebrand 1925 [77 – 90]; Cervigón 1966 [80 – 86]; Figueiredo & Menezes 1980 [70 – 75]; Guitart 1985 [79 – 89]; Rivas 1986 [79 – 92]; Carvalho-Filho 1999 [79 – 92]); the number of lateral line scales of C. mexicanus, in turn, is only mentioned by Carvalho-Filho 1999 [68 – 79] and Rivas 1986 [68 – 78]. Specimens of C. parallelus and C. mexicanus are morphologically very similar and have largely overlapping geographic distributions. The character variation found here in previously identified specimens of both species are: lateral line scales (66 – 88 in C. parallelus vs 64 – 86 in C. mexicanus); scales above lateral line (9 – 12 in C. parallelus vs 10 – 11 in C. mexicanus); scales below lateral line (11 – 14 in C. parallelus vs 12 – 15 in C. mexicanus); lower limb gill rakers on first arch (10 – 13 in C. parallelus vs 11 – 12 in C. mexicanus); gill rakers on first arch (13 – 18 in C. parallelus vs 15 – 17 in C. mexicanus). It is clear that formely proposed diagnostic characters for the genus are highly overlapping between C. parallelus and C. mexicanus in this study and those presented by previous authors. Therefore, based on the molecular and morphological evidence retrieved here, C. mexicanus is herein proposed as a junior synonym of C. parallelus.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E42FF8BFF6B6746EC5D73D3.taxon	description	(Figure 14)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E42FF8BFF6B6746EC5D73D3.taxon	materials_examined	Type. MCZ 10299, 206 mm SL (Fig. 14), loc.: Cuba. Poey (1860) described C. ensiferus based on a single 205 mm TL specimen. However, Rivas (1986) stated that no specimen qualified as a holotype could be found in the MCZ, USNM, or any other museum. The neotype (MCZ 10299) is a specimen of 206 mm SL designated by Rivas (1986), from Cuba, sent from Poey to Agassiz as a representative specimen of C. ensiferus.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E42FF8BFF6B6746EC5D73D3.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus ensiferus has the second anal-fin spine extremely long, extending far beyond the caudal fin origin when adpressed. Other characters that differ from congeners are: Western Atlantic: from C. undecimalis, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 66 – 75), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 11), 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 25.9 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.9 % SL); from C. irae, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 79 – 96), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 7 – 8), 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 13), the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 25.9 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, with a mean body height of 22.3 % SL); from C. parallelus, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 64 – 70), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 13), 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 13 – 18), and pelvic fin usually not reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin usually reaching anus); from C. pectinatus, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudalfin base (vs 47 – 52), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16), 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 20 – 23), the second anal-fin spine longer than the third, and when adpressed, reaching caudal-fin base (vs third anal-fin spine longer than the second, reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin usually not reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin reaching anus), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8); from C. poeyi, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 69 – 74), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 68 – 76), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9); 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), and the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base); from C. viridis, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 67 – 75), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12); 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 15), the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base); and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. armatus, by having the second anal-fin spine extremely long, extending beyond caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs shorter second anal-fin spine, reaching caudal-fin base); from C. robalito, by having 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 17); and 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 21 – 25); from C. unionensis, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 46 – 52), the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest analfin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. medius, by having 48 – 58 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), 10 – 15 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16); 15 – 20 gill rakers on first arch (vs 18 – 23), the longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest analfin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8). Molecular data. Specimens of C. ensiferus form a cluster with 100 % bootstrap value in the COI sequences analysis (Figure 8). The genetic distance between C. ensiferus and C. armatus is 0.112 (Table 7). The genetic analyses indicate that C. ensiferus is the sister group of C. unionensis.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E42FF8BFF6B6746EC5D73D3.taxon	description	Description. Morphometrics and meristics data are summarized in Tables 8, 9 and 10 on the basis of 10 specimens, 41.4 – 345.0 mm TL (193.4 mm average). Body slightly elongate, body height moderate, mean body height 25.9 % SL (22.4 % – 28.6 %); head moderately elongate, mean head length 38.0 % SL (34.9 % – 41.5 %); head moderately high, mean head height 23.5 % SL (20.2 % – 28.4 %); largest specimen measured 285 mm SL. Lower jaw protractile, longer than upper jaw, extending beyond tip of snout. Snout narrow and long, mean snout length 11.4 % SL (10.4 % – 12.7 %); eye relatively small, mean orbit diameter 12.3 % HL. Preoperculum heavily serrated in adults; operculum smooth, without spines, bordered by a membrane that extends beyond origin of pectoral fin; 3 – 6 small spines in dorsal part of operculum. Dorsal fins separated by a small gap, not connected by membrane, first dorsal fin VIII, second dorsal fin I, 11. Pectoral fin with 14 – 16 rays, longest ray extending beyond origin of pelvic fin. Pelvic fin I, 5, longest ray usually not reaching anus. Anal fin III, 7 (rarely III, 8), second spine extremely long, longer than third spine, extending far beyond caudal fin origin when adpressed. Caudal fin deeply forked. Lateral line with ctenoid scales, extending onto caudal fin. Lateral line with 45 – 58 scales to caudal-fin base, usually 48 – 58; 48 – 62 scales extending onto end of caudal fin. Scale rows between lateral line and origin of second dorsal fin 7 – 10; scale rows between lateral line and origin of anal fin 10 – 11. 10 – 18 (usually 10 – 15) lower limb gill rakers on first arch; 15 – 26 (usually 15 – 20) gill rakers on first arch, excluding rudiments; 14 – 20 (usually 18 – 20) gill rakers on second arch, including rudiments.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E42FF8BFF6B6746EC5D73D3.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus ensiferus occurs from south Florida, Gulf of Mexico, along the Antilles, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The occurrence of C. ensiferus in S „ o Paulo indicated by Carvalho-Filho et al. (2019) is erroneous, since the specimen in which that record was based (MZUSP 71557) was examined herein and identified as C. parallelus, based on the presence of 68 scales in the lateral line (C. ensiferus has 48 – 58 scales in the lateral line).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4CFF85FF6B6081ED737110.taxon	description	(Figure 15)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4CFF85FF6B6081ED737110.taxon	materials_examined	Type. CAS-SU 1602, 188 mm SL (Fig. 15), loc.: Havana, Cuba. The original description of C. pectinatus by Poey (1860) is based on a 310 mm TL specimen. However, Rivas (1986) stated that no specimen that agrees with the original description could be found in MCZ, USNM, or any other museum. The neotype (CAS-SU 1602) designated by Rivas (1986) is a specimen from Havana, Cuba, 188 mm SL, deposited in the California Academy of Sciences.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4CFF85FF6B6081ED737110.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus pectinatus differs from its congeners as follows: Western Atlantic: from C. undecimalis, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 66 – 75), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 11), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching anus), a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, mean body height 22.9 % SL), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. irae, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 79 – 96), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 7 – 8), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 13), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching anus), a less elongate and higher body, with a mean body height of 26.6 % SL (vs more elongate and lower body, mean body height 22.3 % SL), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. parallelus, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 64 – 70), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 13), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 13 – 18), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. ensiferus, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 48 – 58), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 15), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), the third anal-fin spine longer than the second, reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs second anal-fin spine longer than the third, reaching caudal-fin base), pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin usually not reaching anus), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. poeyi, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 69 – 74), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 18), pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin not reaching anus), anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 68 – 76), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9); 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. viridis, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 67 – 75), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 9 – 12); 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 15), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. armatus, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 12); 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 17), the third anal-fin spine longer than the second, reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs second anal-fin spine longer than the third, reaching caudal-fin base), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. robalito, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 21 – 25), the third anal-fin spine longer than the second, reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs second anal-fin spine longer than the third, reaching caudal-fin base), and anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7); from C. unionensis, by having 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 14); 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch (vs 15 – 20), the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base), anal fin with III, 8 (vs III, 7), and second dorsal fin with I, 11 (vs I, 9); from C. medius, by having 47 – 52 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), and the longest anal-fin spine usually reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base). Molecular data. Specimens of C. pectinatus form a strongly supported cluster, with 100 % bootstrap value, in the COI sequences analysis (Figure 8). The genetic distance between C. pectinatus and other species of Centropomus ranged from 0.047 to 0.190 (Table 7). The genetic analyses indicate that C. pectinatus is the sister group of C. medius.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4CFF85FF6B6081ED737110.taxon	description	Description. Morphometrics and meristics data are summarized in Tables 8, 9 and 10 on the basis of 14 specimens, 63.7 – 259.9 mm TL (191.3 mm average). Body slightly elongate, body moderately high, mean body height 26.6 % SL (24.4 % – 29.9 %); head moderately long, mean head length 36.9 % SL (34.2 % – 42.8 %); head moderately high, mean head height 22.9 % SL (19.3 % – 25.4 %); largest specimen measured 196.5 mm SL. Lower jaw protractile, longer than upper jaw, extending beyond tip of snout. Snout narrow and long, mean snout length 12.0 % SL (10.7 % – 13.3 %); eye medium, mean orbital diameter 19.4 % HL. Preoperculum heavily serrated in adults; operculum smooth, without spines, bordered by a membrane that extends beyond origin of pectoral fin; 3 – 5 small spines in dorsal part of operculum. Dorsal fins separated by a small gap, not connected by membrane, first dorsal fin always VIII, second dorsal fin I, 11. Pectoral fin with 13 – 15 rays, longest ray extending beyond origin of pelvic fin. Pelvic fin I, 5, longest ray usually reaching anus. Anal fin III, 8, third spine longer than second spine, usually reaching caudal-fin base when close to body (adpressed). Caudal fin deeply forked. Lateral line with ctenoid scales, extending onto caudal fin. Lateral line with 47 – 52 scales to caudal-fin base, 50 – 56 scales extending onto end of caudal fin. Scale rows between lateral line and origin of second dorsal fin 8 – 10; scale rows between lateral line and origin of anal fin 9 – 12. 14 – 16 lower limb gill rakers on first arch; 20 – 23 gill rakers on first arch, excluding rudiments; 19 – 21 gill rakers on second arch, including rudiments.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4CFF85FF6B6081ED737110.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus pectinatus occurs from south Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Antilles, to Paraná, Brazil. The record of C. pectinatus in the Pacific (CAS-SU 2952) is erroneous, since the material examined herein and literature records strongly indicate that the species is restricted to the Western Atlantic.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4EFF82FF6B628FED047595.taxon	description	(Figure 16)	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4EFF82FF6B628FED047595.taxon	materials_examined	Type. USNM 196622, 233 mm SL (Fig. 16), loc.: Mexico. The holotype determined by Chávez (1961) is a 230 mm SL specimen deposited in Estación de Biologia Marina, Instituto Tecnologico de Veracruz, Mexico (EBMTV 235). However, the type specimen and 15 of 27 paratypes were lost (Rivas 1986). The neotype (USNM 196622) designated by Rivas (1986) is a 233 mm SL specimen from Mexico, deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4EFF82FF6B628FED047595.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Centropomus poeyi differs from its congeners as follows: Western Atlantic: from C. undecimalis, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 66 – 75), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on the first arc (vs 8 – 11), 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. irae, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 79 – 96), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on the first arc (vs 7 – 8), 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 13), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. parallelus, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 64 – 70), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on the first arc (vs 10 – 13), pelvic fin not reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin usually reaching the anus), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. ensiferus, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 48 – 58), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on the first arc (vs 10 – 15), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. pectinatus, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 52), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arc (vs 14 – 16), 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 20 – 23), pelvic fin not reaching the anus (vs pelvic fin reaching the anus), second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11), anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8). Eastern Pacific: from C. nigrescens, by having 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 8 – 9); 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 14), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. viridis, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 67 – 75), and 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 15); from C. armatus, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 11 – 12); the longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. robalito, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 47 – 59), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 17); 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 21 – 25), the longest anal-fin spine not reaching caudal-fin base when adpressed (vs longest anal-fin spine reaching caudal-fin base), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11); from C. unionensis, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 46 – 52), and 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 10 – 14); from C. medius, by having 69 – 74 scales on lateral line to caudal-fin base (vs 53 – 65), 9 – 12 lower limb gill rakers on first arch (vs 14 – 16); 15 – 18 gill rakers on first arch (vs 18 – 23), anal fin with III, 7 (vs III, 8), and second dorsal fin with I, 9 (vs I, 11).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4EFF82FF6B628FED047595.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Centropomus poeyi occurs along the coast of Mexico, from Tampico (Tamaulipas) to Frontera (Tabasco). Centropomus poeyi and C. irae have the most restricted distributions when compared to Western Atlantic congeners.	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
03DB87830E4EFF82FF6B628FED047595.taxon	discussion	Remarks. No specimens of Centropomus poeyi were directly examined in the present study. Diagnosis and distribution were based on Chávez (1961) and Rivas (1986). ...... continued on the next page Total length (TL); Standard length (SL); Body height (BH); Caudal peduncle height (CPH); Caudal peduncle length (CPL); Caudal peduncle width (CPW); Body width (BW); Distance from snout to pectoral fin (SPecF); Distance from snout to pelvic fin (SPelF); Distance from snout to dorsal fin (SDF 1); Distance from snout to anal fin (SAF); Head length (HL); Head height (HH); Distance from snout to anterior orbit (SAO); Orbital diameter (OD); Orbital height (OH); Distance from orbit to gill membrane (OGM); First dorsal-fin base length (D 1 BL); Second dorsal-fin base length (D 2 BL); Total dorsal-fin base length (TDBL); Longest spine of first dorsal fin length (SDL); Pelvic fin length (PelL); Longest spine of pelvic fin length (SPL); Anal-fin base length (ABL); Longest spine of anal fin length (SBL); Pectoral fin length (PecL); Mouth width (MW); Upper jaw length (UJL); Lower jaw length (LJL); Distance from maxillary to center of mouth (MCM); Protractile membrane base height (PBH); Interorbital distance (ID). ...... continued on the next page Total length (TL); Standard length (SL); Body height (BH); Caudal peduncle height (CPH); Caudal peduncle length (CPL); Caudal peduncle width (CPW); Body width (BW); Distance from snout to pectoral fin (SPecF); Distance from snout to pelvic fin (SPelF); Distance from snout to dorsal fin (SDF 1); Distance from snout to anal fin (SAF); Head length (HL); Head height (HH); Distance from snout to anterior orbit (SAO); Orbital diameter (OD); Orbital height (OH); Distance from orbit to gill membrane (OGM); First dorsal-fin base length (D 1 BL); Second dorsal-fin base length (D 2 BL); Total dorsal-fin base length (TDBL); Longest spine of first dorsal fin length (SDL); Pelvic fin length (PelL); Longest spine of pelvic fin length (SPL); Anal-fin base length (ABL); Longest spine of anal fin length (SBL); Pectoral fin length (PecL); Mouth width (MW); Upper jaw length (UJL); Lower jaw length (LJL); Distance from maxillary to center of mouth (MCM); Protractile membrane base height (PBH); Interorbital distance (ID).	en	Figueiredo-Filho, Jessé Miranda De, Marceniuk, Alexandre P., Feijó, Anderson, Siccha-Ramirez, Raquel, Ribeiro, Giovana S., Oliveira, Claudio, Rosa, Ricardo S. (2021): Taxonomy of Centropomus Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Centropomidae), with focus on the Atlantic species of the genus. Zootaxa 4942 (3): 301-338, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4942.3.1
