Scientists from Argentina have described a new species of Imparfinis catfish from the Paran and Uruguay river drainages in Argentina.
Adriana Almirn and co-workers name the new species Imparfinis mishky in a recent issue of the journal Revue Suisse de Zoologie.
Imparfinis mishky can be distinguished from other members of the genus in having a combination of the following characters: smooth anterior and posterior margins of the pectoral spine, deeply forked caudal fin with the upper lobe longer than the lower, adipose fin not reaching the caudal fin, and six dark saddles on the body, which also lacks a mid-lateral band.
The new species is known from the Paran and Uruguay river drainages in Corrientes province, northeastern Argentina, and has been collected from the edges of swift-flowing rivers.
In some of the rivers where the fish were caught, the authors write, ...the bottom was generally sandy with variable content of gravel and silt... while in another habitat, cobble predominated. The pH of the habitats was around 6.6"7.4, and dissolved oxygen concentrations were high (slightly below saturation or supersaturated).
The name of the new species is the Quechua word for sweet.
No images of the new species could be obtained for publication.
For more information, see the paper: Almirn, A, J Casciotta, J Bechara, FR Daz, C Bruno, S D Ambrosio, P Solimano and P Soneira (2007) Imparfinis mishky (Siluriformes, Heptapteridae) a new species from ros Paran and Uruguay basins in Argentina. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 114, pp. 817"824.