A new catfish species has been found in a tributary of the Orinico in Venezuela, South America.
The new species has been named Myoglanis aspredinoides by Carlos Donasciemento and John Jundberg in the journal Zootaxa.
The fish is a member of the family Heptapteridae and was found in the the lower Rio Ventuari, a tributary of the upper Orinoco river in southern Venezuela.
The fish were discovered in a pool during field surveys undertaken in 1987 and 1991 by ichthyologists from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and Field Museum of Natural History.
This odd-looking catfish has a flattened, elongated body and sunken eyes.
The genus Myoglanis is closely related to Leptorhamdia and Brachyglanis, but has a charactertistically high number of caudal vertebrate and anal fin rays, as well as a thick base to the adipose fin.
Unlike others in Myoglanis, the new species has a more elongated body with 56-57 vertebrate and a long anal fin with 32-35 rays.
The caudal fin is spear-shaped, or lanceolate and there is a distinctive serration to the anterior edge of the pectoral fin spine.
For more details see the paper: Carlos Donasciemento and John Jundberg (2005) - Myoglanis aspredinoides (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae), a new catfish from the Rio Ventuari, Venezuela. Zootaxa 1009: 37-49 (2005).