Sunday, August 5, 2012

[Ichthyology • 2010] Recognition of Punk Catfish | Neblinichthys roraima and N. yaravi as distinct species (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) • from the Pacaraima Range in Venezuela


Neblinichthys roraima Provenzano, Lasso & Ponte, 1995


Neblinichthys yaravi (Steindachner, 1915)


Abstract
Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus are new sympatric species from upland tributaries of the Mazaruni River (Essequibo River basin) of Guyana. These two new species are the first Neblinichthys reported from Guyana. .....  Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus differ from Nroraima by having one to two preadipose plates (vs. four or more). 
New observations revealed Neblinichthys roraima and Nyaravi to be distinct, with N. roraima having four or more preadipose plates and N. yaravi having one or two. Both are present in the upper río Caroní, an Orinoco tributary that drains the slopes of Mount Roraima and other mountains of the Pacaraima Range in Venezuela and interdigitates with headwaters of the Mazaruni River.

Key words: Essequibo, Guiana Shield, Isolation, Endemism, Punk Catfish.







Taphorn, Armbruster, López-Fernández & Bernard, 2010. Description of Neblinichthys brevibracchium and N. echinasus from the upper Mazaruni River, Guyana (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), and recognition of N. roraima and N. yaravi as distinct species. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 8(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1679-62252010000300006