A new species of Hypostomus catfish has been described from southern Brazil in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
The new species, named Hypostomus multidens by Fernando Jerep, Oscar Shibatta and Cludio Zawadzki, is distinguished from most other Hypostomus catfish in having a colour pattern of light spots on a dark background.
It is distinguished from congeners having such a colour pattern by the presence of teeth with two symmetrical cusps, and a high tooth number (122"267) in each mandibular ramus.
Hypostomus multidens, named after the high number of teeth (from the Latin multi, meaning many and dens, meaning teeth), is known only from the upper Paran River drainage.
The species has been found in large rivers along with several other species of loricariid catfishes (Hypostomus ancistroides, H. hermanni, H. iheringii, H. margaritifer, H. regani, H. strigaticeps, Loricaria prolixa and Megalancistrus parananus).
For more information, see the paper: Jerep, FC, OA Shibatta and CH Zawadzki (2007) A new species of Hypostomus Lacpde, 1803 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)
from the upper rio Paran basin, Southern Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology 5, pp. 435"442.