The genus Schizodon is part of a group of headstanders and relatives (Family Anostomidae) that are widespread and ecologically important fishes in South American rivers. Schizodon includes 15 nominal species but their taxonomy has been challenging due to paucity of decisive characters to diagnose species. We present new molecular data to assess species boundaries or molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), and to infer phylogenetic relationships among species. Evidence from two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes was used in these analyses. Mitochondrial DNA data for 112 specimens (from 11 nominal species) supported 13 consensus MOTUs, six of which matched valid nominal species (Schizodon borellii, S. fasciatus, S. intermedius, S. isognathus, S. knerii and S. scotorhabdotus). The nominal species Schizodon vittatus, S. nasutus, and S. dissimilis were subdivided into two MOTUs each...

In the Peruvian Amazon, freshwater snails of the Ampullariidae family are known as churos, and around 20 species have originally been described for Peru. Although they are widely used for food, traditional medicine and the object of many studies for their cultivation and industrialization, only the species Pomacea maculata is mentioned in the literature. Molecular identification was carried out based on the mitochondrial marker COI of individuals of "churo negro" apple snails (Pomacea) commercialized in the markets of Iquitos, as well as those used in restaurant dishes in the city of Lima, and contrasted with specimens from their natural habitat. It was found that these specimens, correspond to the species Pomacea nobilis (Reeve, 1856). The molecular phylogenetic analysis showed P. nobilis as the sister species of P. guyanensis, in the P. glauca group, distantly related to P. maculata. T...

In the Peruvian Amazon, freshwater snails of the Ampullariidae family are known as churos, and around 20 species have originally been described for Peru. Although they are widely used for food, traditional medicine and the object of many studies for their cultivation and industrialization, only the species Pomacea maculata is mentioned in the literature. Molecular identification was carried out based on the mitochondrial marker COI of individuals of "churo negro" apple snails (Pomacea) commercialized in the markets of Iquitos, as well as those used in restaurant dishes in the city of Lima, and contrasted with specimens from their natural habitat. It was found that these specimens, correspond to the species Pomacea nobilis (Reeve, 1856). The molecular phylogenetic analysis showed P. nobilis as the sister species of P. guyanensis, in the P. glauca group, distantly related to P. maculata. T...