Scientists have described a new species of catfish from the trichomycterid genus Ituglanis.
Rafael Campos-Paiva and Wilson Costa of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro named the new fish Ituglanis paraguassuensis in a paper in the systematics journal Zootaxa.
Ituglanis paraguassuensis was discovered in the rio Paraguacu in north eastern Brazil and is a member of the Trichomycterinae subfamily.
Campos-Paiva and Costa said that the new catfish can be can be told apart from other Ituglanis by the following combination of characters: "colour pattern composed of several irregular pale brown blotches aligned along the body, parietal fontanel extending to posterior edge of medial parietal border, pectoral fin i, 6, pelvic fin i, 4, and the unusual reduced number of vertebrae 34-36."
The trichomycterid family is one of the most diverse catfish groups and includes several parasitic forms, such as the candirus, as well as a number of generalised predators.
The fish are typically found in fast-flowing clearwater streams and are widespread across Brazil and other parts of South America.
The Ituglanis genus contains around 16 species, and was erected by Costa and Bockmann in 1993.
For more information see the paper: Campos-Paiva RM and WJEM Costa (2007) - Ituglanis paraguassuensis sp. n. (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae): a new catfish from the rio Paraguacu, northeastern Brazil. Zootaxa 1471: 53-59.