 |
| Sternopygus embera Torgersen, Galindo-Cuervo, Ortega-Lara, Lujan, Reis & Albert, 2026 |
Abstract
A new species of longtail electric knifefish, Sternopygus embera sp. nov., is described from the trans-Andean Río Baudó and Río San Juan basins of the Pacific coast of northwestern Colombia. The new species is diagnosed from all congeners by a unique combination of characters, including the complete lack of a humeral spot, morphology of the Weberian apparatus, lack of pigment bars or saddles, possession of endopterygoid teeth, vertically-oriented ascending endopterygoid process, a short snout, convex dorsal margin of neurocranium in adults, and 22–23 precaudal vertebrae. Despite sharing more external morphological similarities with species of the S. macrurus complex, the new species is phylogenetically nested within the larger-bodied and longer-snouted trans-Andean S. aequilabiatus species group, based on phylogenetic analysis of the mitochondrial barcode gene. Alternative hypotheses for these contrasting results, including mitochondrial introgression, incomplete lineage sorting, and paedomorphosis, are discussed. The description of this species is a step towards deconstructing the S. macrurus complex ahead of a future systematic revision.
Pisces, río Baudó, Chocó, freshwater, knifefish, río San Juan, taxonomy, Trans-Andean region
 |
| Holotype of Sternopygus embera, CZUT-IC 28654, 326 mm TL, 264 mm LEA. Scale bars = 1 cm. |
 |
| Live Sternopygus embera CZUT-IC 28654, holotype, from the Río Baudó basin immediately after capture. |
Sternopygus embera Torgersen, Galindo-Cuervo, Ortega-Lara, Lujan, Reis, & Albert, new species
Etymology. The specific epithet honors the Emberá, an Indigenous people native to the Chocó region of westernColombia, where the new species occurs. The name acknowledges the deep connection of the Emberá people withthe region’s rivers and ecosystems. A noun in apposition.
Kevin T. TORGERSEN, Aleidy M. GALINDO-CUERVO, Armando ORTEGA-LARA, Nathan K. LUJAN, Roberto E. REIS and James S. ALBERT. 2026. Towards Deconstruction of the Sternopygus macrurus species complex (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae): Description of A New Species from the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Zootaxa. 5748(4); 539-560. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5748.4.5 [2026-01-15]
