Brazilian ichthyologists have described a second species of driftwood catfish in the genus Trachycorystes from the Aripuanã River.
Publishing the description of Trachycorystes menezesi in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology, Heraldo Britski and Alberto Akama distinguish the new species from T. trachycorystes, the only other species in the genus, by its shorter lower jaw (equal to the upper jaw vs. longer than the upper jaw), skull roof with a thick covering of skin (vs. exposed and revealing bony sculpture), shorter inner mandibular barbel (not reaching vs. reaching base of outer mandibular barbel), dorsal spine with teeth only along the hind margin (vs. with teeth only along the front margin), a weakly-forked (vs. emarginate) caudal fin, and swim bladder lacking (vs. with) projections to its rear.
Trachycorystes menezesi is named after Brazilian ichthyologist Naércio Menezes, who headed the expedition that first collected this species.
It was collected in forested creeks with sandy bottoms where fallen trunks, branches and leaf litter were abundant.
An analysis of gut contents indicated that it fed on larger aquatic invertebrates and smaller fish.
For more information, see the paper: Britski, HA and A Akama (2011) New species of Trachycorystes Bleeker, with comments on other species of the genus (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae). Neotropical Ichthyology 9, pp. 273–279.
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