Three new species of the armored catfish genus Loricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from river channels of the Amazon basin

Abstract

Three new species of Loricaria are described from large white-and black-water river channels of the Amazon basin of Brazil, the upper rio Negro drainage of southern Venezuela, and clear waters of the lower rio Tocantins. Loricaria spinulifera and L. pumila differ from other species of Loricaria by having unique patterns of abdominal plate development and hypertrophied odontodes forming conspicuous crests on dorsal surfaces of the head and predorsal plates. Both are small species of Loricaria, reaching sexual maturity at less than 120 mm SL, and exhibiting sexually dimorphic characters consistent with members of the L. cataphracta complex. Loricaria spinulifera differs from L. pumila in having a unique arrangement of buccal papillae and large thorn-like odontodes on the dorsum of the head. Loricaria pumila is the smallest known Loricaria, reaching sexual maturity at less than 80 mm SL. Loricaria lundbergi differs from other Loricaria by having a unique abdominal plate pattern, broad head, and small basicaudal plate. Loricaria lundbergi is sympatric with L. spinulifera in the lower rio Negro drainage, but is also known from the rio Baria system of the Casiquiare drainage. Loricaria pumila occurs in the lower rio Amazonas and lower rio Tocantins. All three new species exhibit varying degrees of reduction in eye size and pigmentation seen in other fishes inhabiting deep river channels of South America.Três novas espécies de Loricaria são descritas provenientes dos canais de grandes rios de águas brancas e pretas da bacia Amazônica brasileira, da bacia do alto rio Negro no sul da Venezuela e das águas claras do baixo rio Tocantins. Loricaria lundbergi é simpátrica com L. spinulifera no baixo rio Negro, mas também é conhecida para o sistema do rio Baria, drenagem do Cassiquiare. Loricaria pumila ocorre no baixo rio Amazonas e baixo rio Tocantins. Loricaria spinulifera e L. pumila diferem de outras Loricaria por apresentarem odontódeos hipertrofiados formando cristas conspícuas nas superfícies dorsal da cabeça e placas pré-dorsais, olhos reduzidos em tamanho e sem o opérculo da íris, e um padrão único de desenvolvimento de placas abdominais. Ambas espécies são pequenas entre Loricaria, alcançando maturidade sexual com menos de 120 mm comprimento padrão, e exibindo caracteres sexualmente dimórficos consistentes com membros do complexo L. cataphracta. Loricaria spinulifera difere de L. pumila por apresentar um arranjo das papilas bucais único e presença de grandes odontódeos em forma de espinho no dorso da cabeça. Loricaria pumila é a menor Loricaria conhecida, alcançando maturidade sexual com menos de 80 mm comprimento padrão. Loricaria lundbergi difere de outras Loricaria por uma combinação única de configuração das placas abdominais, cabeça larga e pequena placa basicaudal. Todas as três novas espécies apresentam graus variados de redução de tamanho do olho e pigmentação distinta da observada em outros peixes que habitam os canais profundos dos rios da América do Sul.

Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships in catfishes of the Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), with the description of Fonchiiloricaria nanodon: a new genus and species from Peru

“…Within the Loricariidae, members of the subfamily Loricariinae are united by a long and depressed caudal peduncle and by the absence of an adipose fin, but they exhibit substantial variation in body shape, lip morphology and dentition. There are currently 220 valid species of Loricariinae, distributed in 30 genera (Covain & Fisch‐Muller, 2007; Fichberg & Chamon, 2008; Ghazzi, 2008; Ingenito et al , 2008; Rapp Py‐Daniel & Fichberg, 2008; Rodriguez & Miquelarena, 2008; Rodriguez & Reis, 2008; Rodriguez et al , 2008; Thomas & Rapp Py‐Daniel, 2008; de Carvalho Paixão & Toledo‐Piza, 2009; Thomas & Sabaj Pérez, 2010).…”

Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic relationships of Dasyloricaria Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1979 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), with description of a new species

“…Measurements and counts follow Reis & Pereira (2000) and Thomas & Rapp Py-Daniel (2008), with the addition of the caudal-peduncle width which is measured at anal-fin base level, and the nares length which is measured from the anterior to posterior margins of the narial aperture. Measurements were taken point to point with digital calipers (0.1 mm precision).…”

A New Species of Whiptail Catfish, Genus Loricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), from the Rio Curuá (Xingu Basin), Brazil

“…birindellii), and 106 representing similar and geographically proximate species for comparison. Morphometric methods follow Thomas and Rapp Py-Daniel (2008), which include 26 point-to-point distances ( Fig. 1) expressed as percentages of either standard length (SL) or head length (HL; Table 1).…”

“…After a twentyyear hiatus following Isbrü cker's (1981) review, four new Loricaria were recently described, including one from the Río Paraguay drainage (Rodriguez and Miquelarena, 2003) and three from deep channels of the lower Amazonas and Negro basins (Thomas and Rapp Py-Daniel, 2008). A recent expedition to the Xingu basin funded by the All Catfish Species Inventory (http://silurus.acnatsci.org) produced two specimens of a distinctive undescribed species that we formally describe in the genus Loricaria based on the external morphological characters described above.…”