A new species of tetra has been described from western Suriname
A new species of tetra has been described from western Suriname's Corantijne River basin.
The new fish, which is a member of the Characidae family, has been named Tetragonopterus lemniscatus by Benine, Pelio and Vari in a paper in the journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.
The new fish brings the total number of fish in the genus to three, all of which are found in the Suriname area.
Tetragonopterus lemniscatus can be distinguished from T. argenteus and T. chalceus by its distinctive dark longitudinal stripes. By contrast, T. argenteus and T. chalceus, which have recently been imported into the UK, are plain silver fish with a black spot on the caudal peduncle.
For more information on the new species see the paper: Benine, RC, GC Pelio & RP Vari (2004) - Tetragonopterus lemniscatus (Characiformes: Characidae), a new species from the Corantijne River basin in Suriname. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 117: 339-345.