A new genus and species of banjo catfish has been described from the Orinoco River drainage in Colombia and Venezuela.
Publishing the description of Pseudobunocephalus lundbergi in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology, John Friel distinguishes the new genus from other banjo catfishes by its small size (less than 80 mm standard length) and osteological characters in the skull, gill arches and fin supports.
Pseudobunocephalus lundbergi, named after American ichthyologist John G. Lundberg, is distinguished from other congeners in having the dorsal surface of skull ornamented with numerous bony knobs of equal size, in addition to other osteological characters.
P. amazonicus by Heok Hee Ng.
In addition to the new species, the following five additional species of banjo catfishes previously placed in Bunocephalus are assigned to the new genus: Pseudobunocephalus amazonicus, Pseudobunocephalus bifidus, Pseudobunocephalus iheringii, Pseudobunocephalus quadriradiatus, and Pseudobunocephalus rugosus.
For more information, see the paper: Friel, JP (2008) Pseudobunocephalus, a new genus of banjo catfish with the description of a new species from the Orinoco River sysytem of Colombia and Venezuela (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 6, pp. 293"300.