Argentinian ichthyologists have described a new species of pike cichlid from the Paran River drainage.
Jorge Casciotta and Adriana Almirn name the new pike cichlid Crenicichla tesay in a recent issue of the journal Revue Suisse de Zoologie.
Crenicichla tesay is distinguished from congeners in having a serrated posterior border of the preopercle, number of scales on the E1 row, snout length, and a colour pattern consisting of a suborbital stripe, 4"6 dark blotches and numerous irregularly scattered dots on the sides of the body.
This species is named after the tear-shaped suborbital stripe (the name comes from the Guaran word for tears) and is known from the Iguaz River upstream of Iguaz falls in Argentina.
According to the authors, the species was caught in streams whose bottoms were composed of mud, sand and mostly stone; the streams had falls and pools, with clear, rapidly-flowing water.
For more information, see the paper: Casciotta, J and A Almirn (2008) Crenicichla tesay, a new species of cichlid (Perciformes: Labroidei) from the ro Iguaz basin in Argentina. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 115, pp. 651"660.