A new species of bumblebee catfish from the Microglanis genus has been described from the waters of the Rio Sao Francisco basin in Brazil.
Microglanis leptostriatus was described by Horacio Mori and Oscar Shibatta of Brazil's Universidade Estadual de Londrina in a paper in the latest issue of the systematics journal Zootaxa.
The new bumblebee catfish, which is a member of the Pseudopimelodidae family, was discovered middle-upper Rio Sao Francisco basin.
Mori and Shibatta say that the new species can be told apart from others in the genus on the basis of the following characters: "characters: light transverse stripe, located in occipital region between the opercular openings, thin and sinuous; pale region below dorsal and adipose fins mottled with brown spots; and a dark stripe in the axis of gill filaments in alcohol preserved specimens."
It is most likely to be confused with M. parahybae and M. garavelloi, which have the closest ranges to the species. M. leptrostriatus has a longer head, shorter dorsal spine and shorter pectoral spine length than both species.
For more information see the paper: Mori H and OA Shibatta (2006) - A new species of Microglanis Eigenmann, 1912 (Siluriformes: Pseudopimelodidae) from Rio Sao Francisco basin, Brazil. Zootaxa, 1302: 31-42.