New Australoheros cichlid named
Ichthyologists from Brazil have described a new species of Australoheros cichlid from southern Brazil.Felipe Ottoni and Morevy Cheffe name the new species from small tributaries of the upper das Antas River (part of the Jacuí River drainage) Australoheros taura in the latest issue of the journal Spixiana.
The new species is distinguished from congeners by its long snout, predorsal length, caudal peduncle length, body and preorbital depths, number of caudal and precaudal vertebrae, dominant males pink to red, absence of any marks on the side of the head, a very narrow caudal-fin base spot, and the number of anal-fin rays.
According to the authors, Australoheros taura “…has been collected in small, shallow rivers with clear water and moderate water current. The bottom is formed by rocks, loose stones and sand, with few macrophytes.
“Grass or other vegetation is usually present at the margins. Water may be cold in midwinter and air temperature is often below zero centigrade degrees.”
The new species is named after the southern Brazilian idiomatic expression taura, meaning brave, because of its territorial and aggressive behavior and the adverse environment in which it occurs.
For more information, see the paper: Ottoni, FP and MM Cheffe (2009) A new species of Australoheros (Labroidei, Cichlidae, Cichlasomatinae) from the upper rio das Antas, laguna dos Patos Sys- tem, southern Brazil. Spixiana 32, pp.153–159.
This article may not be reproduced without permission.
Heok Hee Ng: 15.10.2009More: PDF
Views: Read 1,132 times
Comments feed
Please login to leave a comment
Login
Please login using your current username and password. If you have forgotten your details you can get a reminder.
 | Singapore-based ichthyologist Dr Heok Hee Ng is a leading expert on Asian catfishes and has described dozens of fish ranging from catfishes, to nandids and cyprinids. |
| More articles by Heok Hee Ng » | |
.jpg)
