Ichthyologists from Argentina and the USA have described a new species of Trichomycterus catfish in the latest issue of the journal Copeia.
Luis Fernndez and Richard Vari name the new species Trichomycterus hualco and distinguish it from congeners in the combination of the number of odontodes on the opercle and interopercle, the degree of exposure of the odontodes on the interopercle, the form of the premaxillary teeth, the presence of papillae-like structures on the body, the number of vertebrae, the position of the first proximal dorsal-fin pterygiophore, the form of the supraorbital canal within the frontal, the length of the lateral-line canal, and various meristic features.
Trichomycterus haulco is endemic to the Hualco River drainage (after which it is named) in Argentina.
According to the authors, he type locality of Trichomycterus hualco is a small, clear water stream that flows down a small rocky canyon into a small pool. The stream and pool range from approximately 0.2 to 0.6 m deep and 1.0 to 1.5 m wide.
Both the stream and pool had rock and pebble bottoms and with limited adjoining terrestrial vegetation among the surrounding boulders Stomachs of two cleared-and-stained specimens of T. hualco contained dipteran larvae.
For more information, see the paper: Fernndez, L and RP Vari, 2009. New species of Trichomycterus from the Andean Cordillera of Argentina (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae). Copeia 2009, pp. 195"202.