A new species of plec from the Hypostomus cochliodon group has been described from Guyana.
Loricariid authority Dr Jon Armbruster and Lesley de Souza of the Department of Biology at Auburn University, USA, described the new fish as Hypostomus macushi in the latest issue of the systematics journal Zootaxa.
The new species, which was found in tributaries of the Negro and the Essequibo rivers in Guyana has a striking colour pattern consisting of a pale base colour covered with widely separated black spots.
Armbruster and de Souza say that the only Hypostomus cochliodon group are H. cochliodon, H. ericae, H. ericius and H. paucipunctatus. However, they believe that H. cochliodon is the only one that experts would confuse with the new species.
For more details on identifying the new plec see the paper: Armbruster, JW and LS de Souza (2005) - Hypostomus macushi, a new species of the Hypostomus cochliodon group (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from Guyana. Zootaxa, 920: 1-12.