Brazilian scientists have named a new species of Otocinclus-like suckermouth catfish.
Katianne Ferreira and Alexandre Ribeiro named the catfish Corumbataia britskii in a paper in the latest issue of the systematics journal Zootaxa.
Corumbataia britskii is a member of the loricariid subfamily Hypoptopomatinae and was discovered in 2003 in the Rio Sucuriu, a tributary of the upper Rio Parana basin in Mato Grosso do Sul State, central Brazil.
The new Corumbataia, which reaches a size of just under 3cm, can be told apart from relatives by its more depressed head profile, versus the rounded profile seen in C. tocatinensis and C. cuestae.
It also has prominent "tufts" of odontodes on the tip of the supraocciptal, while C. tocatinensis and C. cuestae have reduced odontodes.
The fish was discovered in deforested areas in moderate to fast-flowing streams where it lives among aquatic plants and submerged marginal plants. Stomach analyses suggest that the new plec eats blue-green algae, diatoms and other organisms found growing on the leaves of aquatic plants.
The genus Corumbataia was erected by Heraldo Britski in 1997 and now contains three species.
For more information on the new species see the paper: Ferreira KM and AC Ribeiro (2007) - Corumbataia britskii (Siluriformes: Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae) a new species from the upper Rio Parana basin, Mato Grosso do Sul, Central Brazil. Zootaxa 1386: 59-68.