APLICACIÓN DEL BARCODING PARA LA ESTIMACIÓN DE LA DIVERSIDAD ESPECÍFICA DE LA FAMILIA LORICARIIDAE (PISCES: SILURIFORMES) EN LA REGIÓN SAN MARTÍN, AMAZONIA PERUANA

The specific diversity of the Loricariidae family (Siluriformes, Pisces) was estimated in the 10 provinces of the San Martin region (Peruvian Amazon). For molecular characterization, the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) were obtained. The phylogenetic analysis of the sequences confirmed the presence of 16 species, distributed in nine genera. The values ​​of observed wealth and expected wealth show the province of Picota as the richest (seven species), unlike the province of Rioja that presented the lowest observed wealth (one species), followed by the province of El Dorado (two species). The principal component analysis (PCA) allowed us to observe the importance of the species Chaetostoma sp. 1 in the province of Rioja, as well as in Ancistrus sp. 2 for the province of San Martin. In addition, our results show that the most abundant species in the San Martin region was Chaetostoma sp. 1, while the one with the lowest abundance was Aphanotorolus emarginatus and Chaetostoma sp. 3. The species of greatest distribution was Ancistrus sp. 2 are found in six provinces, followed by the species Chaetostoma stroumpoulos and Chaetostoma sp. 1 who were present in five different provinces of the San Martin region. The species Pterygoplichthys pardalis, Aphanotorulus emarginatus, Chaetostoma sp. 3, Ancistrus sp. 1 and Farlowella smithi were restricted to a single province. The commercial species known as carachama parda P. pardalis and carachama negra Hypostomus hemicochliodon were rare in the catches (six and 11 individuals respectively), the first was limited only to the province of Picota, while the second was found in the provinces of Bellavista , Huallaga and Picota. The results show that although the diversity of loricariid species is not as diverse as in the lower jungle, some species of this family are well distributed and quite abundant in this region.