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| Moenkhausia guaruba de Lima, Vita, Dutra, Ohara & Pastana, 2023 |
Abstract
A new species of Moenkhausia is described from the rio Braço Norte, a tributary of Rio Teles Pires draining the Serra do Cachimbo, rio Tapajós basin, Pará, Brazil. The new species is diagnosed from all congeners, except M. moisae and M. pirauba, by having a high number of scales in the longitudinal series (43–46 vs. 23–41 in other Moenkhausia species). It can also be distinguished from the aforementioned species based on the combination of the following characters: a single humeral blotch, 21–25 branched anal-fin rays, and a round and symmetrical caudal blotch not continuous anteriorly with the dark midlateral stripe. The new tetra herein described represents an additional, possibly endemic, taxon from the headwaters draining from Serra do Cachimbo, in the Brazilian Shield.
Keywords: Pisces, Amazon Basin, Neotropical fishes, taxonomy, Moenkhausia moisae, Moenkhausia pirauba
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| Live specimen of Moenkhausia guaruba, MZUSP 119389, paratype, SL uncertain, Brazil, Pará, Novo Progresso, rio Braço Norte, rio Tapajós basin. |
Moenkhausia guaruba, new species
Diagnosis. Moenkhausia guaruba is distinguished from its congeners, except Moenkhausia moisae Géry, Planquette & Le Bail 1995 and Moenkhausia pirauba Zanata, Birindelli & Moreira 2010 by having a higher numberof scales in the longitudinal series (43–46 vs. 23–41 in other Moenkhausia species). The new species differs fromM. moisae by having fewer branched anal-fin rays (21–25, modal 23 vs. 25–29, modal 27 in M. moisae; Fig. 2),a complete and regularly arranged series of predorsal scales (vs. irregular arranged of scales at predorsal region),and by having a single, vertically elongated and relatively wide humeral blotch (vs. two humeral blotches in M.moisae; see Discussion for further details). Moenkhausia guaruba differs from M. pirauba by having a conspicuous,rounded, and symmetrical dark blotch located at the posterior limit of the caudal peduncle and base of caudal-fin rays (vs. caudal blotch horizontally elongated, asymmetrical, continuous anteriorly with midlateral stripe andextending posteriorly to margins of four or five middle caudal-fin rays in M. pirauba), and a thin longitudinal lineformed by dark pigmentation running along horizontal septum of body (vs. dark longitudinal line wide, forming anelongated blotch at caudal peduncle in M. pirauba).
Etymology. The specific name guaruba refers to the Brazilian popular name for Guaruba guarouba Gmelin1788, also known as the Golden Parakeet, a medium-sized golden-yellow Neotropical parrot native to the Brazilian Amazon domain. The name alludes to the intense yellow present on all fins of the new species. A noun inapposition.
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| Type locality of Moenkhausia guaruba at upper rio Braço Norte at Serra do Cachimbo, tributary of rio Teles Pires, rio Tapajós basin, Pará State, Brazil: (a) waterfall upstream, substrate composed mainly by rocks; (b) sandy beach downstream to the waterfall. |
Arthur de Lima, George Vita, Guilherme M. Dutra, William M. Ohara and Murilo N. L. Pastana. 2023. A New Moenkhausia (Characiformes: Characidae) from rio Braço Norte, rio Tapajós Basin, with Comments on the Fish Endemism of Serra do Cachimbo Plateau. Zootaxa. 5330(4); 586-596. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5330.4.6
