The banded basslet, Lipogramma evides Robins & Colin, 1979, is shown to comprise two species: Lipogramma evides, which inhabits depths of 133-302 m, and a new species described here as Lipogramma levinsoni, which inhabits depths of 108-154 m and previously was considered to represent the juvenile of Lipogramma evides. A second new species of banded basslet, described here as Lipogramma haberi, inhabits depths of 152-233 m and was previously not reported in the literature. Morphologically, the three species differ in color patterns and modal numbers of gill rakers, whereas various other morphological features distinguish Lipogramma levinsoni from Lipogramma evides and Lipogramma haberi. DNA barcode data and multilocus, coalescent-based, species-delimitation analysis support the recognition of the three species. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data supports a sister-group relationship between the two deepest-living of the three species, Lipogramma evides and Lipogramma haberi, and suggests that the shallower Lipogramma levinsoni is more closely related to Lipogramma anabantoides Böhlke, 1960, which inhabits depths < 120 m. Evolutionary relationships within Lipogramma thus appear to be correlated with species depth ranges, an eco-evolutionary pattern that has been observed in other Caribbean marine teleosts and that warrants further investigation. The new species represent the eleventh and twelfth new fish species described in recent years from exploratory submersible diving in the Caribbean in the globally poorly studied depth zone of 50-300 m. This study suggests that there are at least two additional cryptic species of Lipogramma, which are being analyzed in ongoing investigations of Caribbean deep-reef ecosystems.
Keywords: Manned submersible; Smithsonian Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP); cryptic species; integrative taxonomy; ocean exploration; phylogeny.