Loricariid expert Nathan Lujan has described a new species of plec in the genus Lithoxus from southern Venezuela in a recent issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
Lithoxus jantjae is known from the headwaters of the Ventuari River and is distinguished from other congeners in having 12 (vs. 14) branched caudal-fin rays and a combination of the following characters: medial premaxillary teeth with an enlarged and widened cusp, a mode of 18 hypertrophied cheek odontodes, five interdorsal plates, a mode of 24 supramedian plates, four branched anal-fin rays, presence of an adipose fin with a convex posterior membranous extension, and an obliquely truncate to slightly emarginate caudal fin.
The new pleco species is the eighth species of Lithoxus known to science and is named after the author's mother, who was nicknamed Jantje.
For more information, see the paper: Lujan, NK (2008) Description of a new Lithoxus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Guayana Highlands with a discussion of Guiana Guiana Shield biogeography. Neotropical Ichthyology 6, pp. 413"418.