Another new species of trichomycterid catfish from southeastern Brazil has been described by scientists.
Sergio Lima and Wilson Costa found the new catfish in the Rio Guandu basin, Serra do Mendanha, near the city of Rio de Janeiro and have described it as Trichomycterus giganteus in the latest issue of the journal Zootaxa.
The new fish, which looks vaguely like a weather loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, lives among rocks in still waters around 50-200cm in depth, and in running waters.
At around 12cm in length, the new species is the largest member of the Trichomycterus genus described to date.
Lima and Costa say that the fact it's gone unnoticed for so long indicates how little scientists know about this fascinating catfish genus.
Trichomycterus currently contains over 100 described species, plus numerous undescribed fishes. PFK has reported the descriptions of at least five other species in the past year alone.
For more details on the new species see the paper: Lima, SMQ and Costa, WJEM (2004) - Trichomycterus giganteus (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae): a new catfish from the Rio Guandu basin, southeastern Brazil. Zootaxa, 761: 1-6.