Two new species of tetra belonging to the Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus (flag tetra) group have been described from Venezuela.
Publishing the descriptions of Hyphessobrycon paucilepis and H. tuyensis in the latest issue of the journal Vertebrate Zoology, Carlos Garca-Alzate, Csar Romn-Valencia and Donald Taphorn also review the members of this group of tetra in Venezuela, recognizing three other valid species: H. diancistrus, H. fernandezi and H. sovichthys.
Hyphessobrycon paucilepis is distinguished from its Venezuelan congeners in having a combination of: three unbranched and eight branched rays in the dorsal fin, a short maxilla with one pentacuspid tooth, eight teeth on the dentary, a premaxilla with 2"3 teeth in the outer row, 28"29 lateral scales, 9 predorsal scales, an absence of sexual dimorphism, and a dark lateral band that extends from the upper rear margin of the opercle to the caudal peduncle and continues as a rhomboidal peduncular blotch onto the middle caudal fin rays.
This species is known only from the small drainages in Lara state, northern Venezuela. Hyphessobrycon paucilepis is named after its the low lateral and predorsal scale counts (from the Greek paucis=few and lepis=scale).
Hyphessobrycon tuyensis differs from congeners in having a combination of: four teeth in the inner premaxilla row, seven pored scales in lateral line, six dentary teeth, two foramina in maxilla, subterminal mouth, a long bony laminar prolongation on postcleithrum 3 that is three-quarters the length of that bone, and
a continuous dark lateral band from the posterior edge of the opercle through the central caudal-fin rays.
This species is known only from the Tuy River drainage in northern Venezuela, after which it is named.
For more information, see the paper: Garca-Alzate, CA, C Romn-Valencia and DC Taphorn (2008) Revision of the Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus-group (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae), with description of two new species from Venezuela. Vertebrate Zoology 58, pp. 139"157.