The South American characin genus Triportheus has been revised and three new species have been described.
Maria Claudia Malabarba of Museu de Ciencias e Technologia in Brazil has undertaken an in-depth study on all members of the Characidae genus Triportheus and reports her findings in the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
Malabarba says that members of the Triportheus genus, which are sometimes known as Giant hatchets due to their similarity to Gasteropelecus and their surface dwelling behaviour, are found in most of South America's river drainages.
She recognises 16 species in the genus in her revision, with three of those described by herself in the paper: T. orinocensis; T. pantanensis and T. venezuelensis.
The revision also includes a dichotomous key for identifying all of the known species.
For more details see the paper: Maria Claudia S. L. Malabarba (2004) - Revision of the Neotropical genus Triportheus Cope, 1872 (Characiformes: Characidae). Neotropical Ichthyology, Volume 2, Number 4.