A new species of trichomycterid catfish has been described from the headwaters of Brazil's Rio Sao Francisco river system.
The new candiru catfish, named Trichomycterus trefauti, has just been described by ichthyologist Wolmar Wosiacki of Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG) in the latest issue of the journal Zootaxa.
Wosiacki described the new fish, which was named in honour of collector Dr Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, from Minas Gerais and has placed it in the trichomycterine genus Trichomycterus, which has seen a number of new additions in recent months. It brings the total number in the subfamily to around 115.
The fish comes from the Rio Parauna, a tributary of the Rio Do Velhas, and comes from an area rich in trichomycterid species.
The new sausage-shaped catfish was found in shallow 10cm deep streams, about 3-4m wide at an altitude of around 1000m.
For more details on the new catfish see: Wosiacki, WM (2004) - New species of the catfish genus Trichomycterus (Teleostei: Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) from the headwaters of the Rio Sao Francisco basin, Brazil. Zootaxa: 592, 1-12.