A new plec species in the genus Hemiancistrus has been described from the Tocantins River drainage in central Brazil.
Lesley de Souza, Marcelo Melo, Carine Chamon and Jonathan Armbruster name the new species Hemiancistrus cerrado after the Brazilian Cerrado (a tropical savanna in central Brazil in which this species is found) in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
Hemiancistrus cerrado can be distinguished from congeners in having a combination of the following characters: dark spots on the body of approximately the same size, absence of spots on the abdomen, absence of faint zig-zag lines along the sides outlining dorsolateral plates, spots separate on the caudal fin, absence of papillae on exposed surfaces, emarginate caudal fin, internarial width 15.9-21.1% of head length, length of adipose-fin spine 9.4-13.6% of standard length, and pelvic-fin spine reaching maximally to the middle of the pelvic fin spine when adpressed in adult males.
Hemiancistrus cerrado is known from tributaries of the Araguaia River in Gois State, Tocantins River drainage.
For more information, see the paper: de Souza, LS, MRS Melo, CC Chamon and JW Armbruster (2008) A new species of Hemiancistrus from the rio Araguaia basin, Gois state, Brazil (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 6, pp. 419"424.