Brazilian ichthyologists from INPA have described a new species of bottlenose catfish from the central Amazon River drainage. Frank Ribeiro and Lúcia Py-Daniel name the new catfish Ageneiosus uranophthalmus in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
The new catfish is distinguished from congeners in having a V-shape snout and an eye that is situated more towards the sides and the top of the head, causing it to be more visible from above than below.
It further differs from congeners in having a combination of 11–16 gill rakers on the first branchial arch, 41–49 anal-fin rays, anal-fin base length 34.6–39.4% standard length, a forked caudal fin, uniform body colour with a brownish to black dorsolateral band, and dorsal and pectoral spines becoming progressively flexible distally in individuals larger than 10 cm standard length.
The new catfish was caught in swift-flowing rivers over a substrate of clay and sand.
The name of the new species comes from its dorsally-oriented eyes (Greek ouranos=sky, heaven and ophthalmos=eye).
For more information, see the paper: Ribeiro, FRV and LHR Py-Daniel (2010) Ageneiosus uranophthalmus, a new species of auchenipterid catfish (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes) from river channels of the central Amazon basin, Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology 8, pp. 97–104.