ON THE TAXONOMY OF THE LEPIDONOTOTHEN SQUAMIFRONS GROUP (PISCES, PERCIFORMES, NOTOTHENIOIDEI)

The Lepidonotothen squamifrons group has been described to be comprise d of three species: L. squamifrons (Gunther, 1880), L. kempi (Norman, 1937) and L. macrophthalma (Norman, 1937). All three species closely r esemble each other and morphological and meristic characters utilized to distinguish between species are overlapping. Enzyme electrophoresis has been applied to specimens morphologically recognized as L. squami frons and L. kempi from various localities in the Scotia Are region an d the Kerguelen Islands to assist in clarifying their taxonomic status . Results suggest that both ''species'' represent only populations of one species. Evidence is presented that the third species of the group , L. macrophthalma, may also be identical with L. squamifrons and that the L. squamifrons ''group'' is comprised of only one species, Lepido notothen squamifrons (Gunther, 1880). We found no statistically signif icant difference in allele frequencies between specimens from geograph ically isolated shelf areas of the Scotia Are. This does not necessari ly mean that the Scotia Are region is inhabited by a single population but suggests some gene flow between shelf areas via larval drift for which evidence exists.