Three new species of the South American thorny catfish genus Doras are described in a taxonomic revision of the genus (that recognizes five living and one fossil species as valid).
Publishing their research in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Mark Sabaj Prez and Jos Birindelli name D. phlyzakion, D. higuchii and D. zuanoni from the middle Amazon and tributaries, lower Amazon tributaries and Araguaia River (Tocantins drainage), respectively.
The three species are distinguished from each other and the three other recognised congeners (D. carinatus, D. micropoeus and the fossil D. dioneae) by a combination of the number of midlateral scutes, shapes of the swimbladder, the bones on the head and on the pectoral girdle and colour pattern.
Doras higuchii is named after Brazilian ichthyologist Horcio Higuchi in recognition of his work on thorny catfish sytematics. According to the authors, Three adults taken at the type locality in the rio Curu were collected at night using cast nets and bag seine over sand in swift clear water (depth