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| Tympanopleura personata Ribeiro, Silva-Oliveira, Magalhães, Gama & Py-Daniel, 2026 |
Abstract
A new species of the genus Tympanopleura is described from the Iquiri River, a tributary of the Ituxi River, a right-bank tributary to the Purus River, Amazon River, northern Brazil. The new species is distinguished from all its congeners by a combination of features, such as the presence of an intensely pigmented square-shaped blotch on the supraoccipital, a semicircular dark blotch above each eye and an inconspicuous vertical bar on the caudal-fin base (except Tympanopleura piperata), and by a combination of meristic and morphometric character states. Preliminary molecular analyses demonstrate genetic distance values of 2.4% of cytochrome oxidase, subunit I, divergence between the new species and T. piperata and 8.0%–13.0% between the new species and the other congeners. The new species shows several reproductive adaptations to copulation and internal insemination. Considering the period during which prenuptial and nuptial specimens were available, we can presume that its reproductive period occurs when the water level increases. In addition, an identification key for the species of Tympanopleura is provided.
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| Tympanopleura personata in life, in dorsal (a) lateral, (b) ventral views and (c) dorsal views, UFOPA-I 1374, 84.0, mm LS, paratype, Iquiri River, Lábrea, Amazonas, Brazil. |
Tympanopleura personata, new species
Diagnosis: Tympanopleura personata is distinguished from all congeners by having a unique colouration of the head, consisting of the combination of an intensely pigmented square-shaped blotch on the supraoccipital and a semicircular dark blotch above each eye (Figure 2; Walsh et al., 2015: Figure 1e). It also differs from all congeners, except T. piperata, by the caudal-fin pigmentation, consisting of a patch of scattered melanophores forming an inconspicuous vertical bar on the caudal-fin base, most visible in live or freshly preserved specimens (Figure 2). Tympanopleura personata differs from T. piperata by having a longer caudal peduncle (11.1%–13.8% LS vs. 7.6%–10.5% LS) and a smaller distance between the insertion of the last dorsal-fin ray and adipose-fin origin (41.9%–45.6% LS vs. 45.9%–55.4% LS). Additionally, T. personata can be distinguished from T. atronasus, T. cryptica, T. brevis, T. piperata and T. rondoni by having more anal-fin rays (36–40, mode 39 vs. 23–30, mode 27 in T. atronasus; 23–30, mode 29 in T. cryptica; 31–36, mode 33 in T. brevis; 31–38, mode 35 in T. piperata; and 28–37, mode 31 in T. rondoni) and few total gill rakers (17–20, mode 19 vs. 20–24, mode 23 in T. brevis; 21–26, mode 22 in T. cryptica; 19–25, mode 23 in T. longipinna; and 24–33, mode 29–30 in T. rondoni).
Etymology: The specific epithet personata is derived from the Latin personatus, meaning masked, in reference to the dorsal pigmentation of the head. It is treated as a noun in apposition. Gender is feminine.
Frank Raynner V. Ribeiro, Cárlison Silva-Oliveira, Valdenor Magalhães, Lucas Gama and Lúcia H. Rapp Py-Daniel. 2026. A New Species of inseminating Catfish of the Genus Tympanopleura (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Ituxi River, Amazon River Basin, northern Brazil, revealed by integrative taxonomy. Journal of Fish Biology. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70445 [13 April 2026]