Abstract. -Western Atlantic tonguefishes of the Sympkurus plagu-sia (Schneider, in Bloch and Schnei-der 1801) complex are distinguished from other Atlantic Sympkurus spe-cies by the possession of 12 caudal fin rays, a 1-4-3 pattern of interdigi-tation of dorsal-fin pterygiophores and neural spines, absence of a pupil-lary operculum, reduced or absent dentition on ocular-side jaws, and an unpigmented peritoneum. Consider-able taxonomic uncertainty has been associated with nominal species of this complex, but the most common practice has been to recognize one widespread species (S. plagusia) with two subspecies ranging from the Ca-ribbean southward to Uruguay, and a second species, S. civitatium Gins-burg 1951, occurring in inshore areas along the southeastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States and northern Mexico. The validity of S. civitatium is confirmed in this study. Examination of tonguefishes from the Caribbean and southward indicates that specimens previously identified as S. plagusia do not com-prise one species with two allopatric subspecies, but rather four largely sympatric, albeit not necessarily syn-topic, species. Sympkurus plagusia, the first described species in this complex, occurs in inshore habitats ranging from the Caribbean to Rio de Janeiro. Sympkurus tessellatus (Quoy and Gaimard 1824), removed from the synonymy of S. plagusia, occurs in nearshore, estuarine, and neritic waters throughout the Carib-bean southwards to Uruguay. Two new species, S. oeulellus occurring in neritic waters off northern South America (Guyana to northern Brazil), and S. caribbeanus (nearshore habi-tats throughout the Caribbean), are described and figured. A key to the western Atlantic species of this com-plex is provided. Western Atlantic Tonguefishes of the Symphurus plagusia Complex (Cynoglossidae: Pleuronectiformes), with Descriptions of Two New Species* Thomas A. Munroe Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA National Museum of Natural History, Washington. DC 20560 Shallow-water symphurine tongue-fishes possessing 12 caudal fin rays, a 1-4-3 pattern of interdigitation of dorsal pterygiophores and neural spines, with reduced or absent den-tition on ocular-side jaws, an unpig-mented peritoneum, and lacking a pupillary operculum comprise the Sym-phurus plagusia (Schneider, in Bloch and Schneider 1801) complex.** Five western Atlantic and several eastern Pacific species of tonguefishes are recognized in this complex. Through-out the western Atlantic, from North Carolina, U.S.A., to Uruguay (Gins-burg 1951, Menezes and Benvegnii 1976, Munroe 1987), these common-ly collected tonguefishes are abun-dant locally in estuarine and near-shore habitats as well as on sandy or muddy substrates on the inner con-tinental shelf (Meek and Hildebrand 1928, Ginsburg 1951, Lowe-McCon-nell 1962, Caldwell 1966, Cervigon 1966, Carvalho et al. 1968, Palacio 1974, Menezes and Benvegnii 1976, Lema and Oliveria 1977, Lema et al. 1980, Munroe 1987). Manuscript accepted 31 December 1990. Fishery Bulletin, U.S. 89:247-287(1991). * Contribution no. 1659 of the Virginia Insti-tute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary. * * There is another western Atlantic tongue-fish, S. playiusa (Linnaeus), completely allo-patric from S. plagusia, which unfortunately has a nearly identical spelling for its specific epithet. It is emphasized that these are com-pletely different and distinctive species that should not be confused because of similar-ities in their names. Nomenclatural uncertainty and questions regarding taxonomic valid-ity have been associated with these western Atlantic tonguefishes since the first description of a species from Jamaica by Browne (1756). Much of the confusion centers on species col-lected in shallow waters of the Carib-bean and coastal seas of Central America and much of South America. At least ten combinations of names have been used for these tropical western Atlantic, shallow-water tonguefishes. Historically (Kaup 1858, Jordan and Evermann 1898, Chabanaud 1949), Atlantic members of this spe-cies complex were long regarded as comprising populations of a single widespread, polytypic species, Sym-phurus plagusia. This nomenclatural arrangement began with Kaup (1858) and has continued to the present (Jor-dan and Goss 1889, Jordan and Ever-mann 1898, Ginsburg 1951, Menezes and Benvegnii 1976, Rosa 1980, Lu-cena and Lucena 1982). Ginsburg considered the tropical western At-lantic members of this complex to represent two allopatric subspecies, and his newly-described S. civitatium with its disjunct northern distribu-tion, perhaps representing a third subspecies of one wide-ranging poly-typic species. However, the most re-cent review of Symphurus of south-ern South America (Menezes and Benvegnii 1976) questioned recog-247
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