Brazilian ichthyologists have described a new species of electric knifefish in the genus Brachyhypopomus from the the central, southern and coastal regions of the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, from Uruguay, and from Paraguay.
Julia Giora and Luiz Malabarba name the new species Brachypopomus gauderio in a recent issue of the journal Zootaxa.
The new species is distinguished from congeners in having a yellow dorsal surface of the body with brown markings forming a reticulate pattern, proportional measurements of the head and body, and anal-fin ray and vertebral counts.
The species is named after its geographic distribution (the species name comes from a synonym for gacho, a person living in the countryside (pampas) of Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina).
The authors state that B. gauderio ...inhabits river banks, slow-moving creeks, lagoons, and flooded areas with muddy or sandy bottom; the occurrence of the species is always associated with abundant emergent or floating vegetation.
For more information, see the paper: Giora, J and LR Malabarba (2009) Brachyhypopomus gauderio, new species, a new example of underestimated species diversity of electric fishes in the southern South America (Gymnotiformes: Hypopomidae). Zootaxa 2093, pp. 60"68.