Two new annual fishes (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae) unexpectedly discovered in the highlands of southern Brazil

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4949 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-520
Author(s):  
LUIS ESTEBAN KRAUSE LANÉS ◽  
MATHEUS VIEIRA VOLCAN ◽  
LEONARDO MALTCHIK

Two new species of Austrolebias are described based on specimens collected from temporary pools located in natural grassland landscape within the Araucaria Forest domain at exceptionally high altitudes (~1000 meters a.s.l.). Austrolebias botocudo sp. n. and Austrolebias nubium sp. n. occur, respectively, in drainages of upper rio Apuaê-Inhandava (upper rio Uruguay basin) and upper rio Taquari-Antas (upper rio Jacuí, Laguna dos Patos basin), in the Meridional Plateau of southern Brazil. Despite an intensive survey conducted in the area, only two populations of each species were recorded. Both new species occurs at altitudes that are among the higher recorded for species of the genus, and both are assigned to the subgenus Acrolebias. The new species described herein are easily distinguished for its congeners by the colour pattern of males, by presence of melanophores irregularly distributed in different parts of the body, contact organs cover the body and anal fins, position of fins related with vertebrae, by preopercular and mandibular series of neuromasts united, by a series of morphometric features and by larger maximum standard length. Austrolebias botocudo and A. nubium are distinguished from each other by colour pattern of males, length of contact organs in the flank and number of contact organs in scales of lateral line, dorsal profile of head, number of neuromasts in the preopercular + mandibular series, body depth in females, and by basihyal cartilage length. Additionally, we discuss the conservation status of the new species, and provided an identification key for the species of the subgenus Acrolebias. 

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz F. Ribeiro ◽  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Edward L. Stanley ◽  
Marcio R. Pie ◽  
Marcos R. Bornschein

We describe two new species of miniaturized toadlet in the B. pernix group of Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae) from the Atlantic Forest of the state of Paraná, southern Brazil. The first new species is distinguished from all congeners by the pale red coloration from the head to the pelvic region, with sides of the body and thighs dorsally yellowish green. It is known only from the type locality in a cloud forest at altitudes ranging between 1,144–1,228 m a.s.l. The second species, although more closely related to B. izecksohni, is morphologically similar to B. brunneus in its overall brown coloration, but distinct from that species in the color of the iris (black with conspicuous golden spots, instead of entirely black). It was found on three mountains, at altitudes between 1,095–1,320 m a.s.l., and in vegetation types including cloud forest, montane forest, and secondary forest. The two new species exhibit neither vertebral fusions nor osteoderms, but one has both a distinct neopalatine and well-developed odontoids on the maxillae. We discuss the conservation status of both species.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. S. de Lucena ◽  
Jonas Blanco Castro ◽  
Vinicius A. Bertaco

Three new species of Astyanax are described from southern Brazil: A. dissensus and A. xiru from the laguna dos Patos system and rio Uruguay basin, the first species also occurring in the rio Tramandaí system, and A. procerus from the laguna dos Patos system. Astyanax procerus and A. xiru possess outer row premaxillary teeth pentacuspid and inner row heptacuspid, maxillary with one tri- to pentacuspid teeth, 18-23 branched anal-fin rays, and two humeral spots. Astyanax procerus has the largest body depth (38.3-46.0% of SL), while A. xiru has the lowest body depth (32.5-37.5% of SL) among the three species. The characters combination can distinguish these species from its congeners. Astyanax dissensus distinguish from Astyanax species by the presence of one developed heptacuspid teeth on maxillary, 22-28 branched anal-fin rays, 35-39 perforated scales along the lateral line, two humeral spots, conspicuous lateral band continuous on middle caudal rays, 6-7 scale row between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line, and head length 22.7-27.3% of SL. All three species has the predorsal region of the body scaled. An identification key to the species of Astyanax species from the rio Uruguay basin, and laguna dos Patos and rio Tramandaí systems is provided.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliano Ferrer ◽  
Laura M. Donin

ABSTRACT A new species of Ituglanis associated to the grasslands of the Pampa biome is described from the rio Uruguai basin, southern Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the low number of ribs and by a unique color pattern composed of an outer layer with scattered round black blotches equivalent in size to the eye circumference over a reddish brown background on the lateral surface of the body. We provide the genetic sequences of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome c Oxydase subunit I (COI) for three of the paratypes and discuss aspects about the recent discovery of the new species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4996 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-330
Author(s):  
HEOK HEE NG ◽  
MAURICE KOTTELAT

Pseudobagarius eustictus, new species, is described from the Nam Heung drainage (a tributary of the Mekong River) in northern Laos. It is distinguished from congeners in having a unique combination of the following characters: a weakly-produced snout in which the upper jaw extends only slightly beyond the margin of the lower jaw when viewed ventrally, 3 tubercles on the posterior margin of the pectoral spine, eye diameter 8% HL, head width 24.1% SL, dark yellow dorsal and lateral surfaces of the head, pectoral spine lacking elongate extensions, pectoral fin reaching the pelvic-fin base when adpressed against the body, dorsolateral surfaces of body without longitudinal series of prominent tubercles, body depth at anus 13.7% SL, length of adipose-fin base 17.7% SL, caudal-peduncle depth 7.0% SL, and 33 vertebrae.  


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3201 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
KANISHKA D.B. UKUWELA ◽  
KATE L. SANDERS ◽  
BRYAN G. FRY

A new species of viviparous sea snake, Hydrophis donaldi sp. nov. (Hydrophiinae), is described from the Gulf of Carpen-taria, northern Australia. Molecular analyses reveal this species as a deeply divergent lineage within the Hydrophis sub-group, and separate it from all other sampled taxa by fixed nucleotide substitutions at three independent mitochondrial andnuclear loci. The new species is assigned to Hydrophis based on the current morphological diagnosis of this large but pa-raphyletic genus, and is distinguished from all other Hydrophis species and closely allied genera by a combination of mor-phological characters relating to scalation, colour pattern and osteology. Using current keys for sea snakes, H. donaldi sp.nov. might be mistaken for H. coggeri, H. sibauensis or H. torquatus diadema but it is readily distinguished from thesespecies by a higher number of bands on the body and tail, lower ventral count, strongly spinous body scales, and a wider,more rounded head. Sea snakes have been sampled intensively in the Gulf of Carpentaria due to their vulnerability to by-catch in the region’s commercial prawn-trawl fisheries. That this highly distinctive new species has evaded discovery inthe region until now is surprising, but might be explained by its habitat preferences. All known specimens of H. donaldi sp. nov. were found in estuarine habitats that are relatively poorly surveyed and are not targeted by commercial fisheries.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 423 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
LUÍS ADRIANO FUNEZ ◽  
JULIO CESAR JARAMILLO ◽  
ELISANDRO RICARDO DRECHSLER-SANTOS

We describe here Begonia medeiroii, a narrow endemic species from the Atlantic Rainforest. The conservation status of this species was assessed as critically endangered according to IUCN criteria. This species resembles to B. catharinensis and B. hirtella in some characteristics, differing among other features due the presence of adventitious vegetative buds on the adaxial surface of the leaves.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4674 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFFREY W. JOHNSON ◽  
JESSICA WORTHINGTON WILMER

A new species of epinephelid fish from northeastern Australia is described based on five specimens 408–564 mm SL collected by deep water demersal dropline fishing. Epinephelus fuscomarginatus sp. nov. is known from the Capricorn Channel, off the southern end of the Swain Reefs, Qld, Australia, in depths of 220–230 m. It is distinguished by a combination of dorsal-fin rays XI, 14, pectoral-fin rays 17, anal-fin rays III, 8, caudal-fin rounded, lateral-line scales 60–67, gill rakers 9–10 + 16–19 = 25–28, body depth 3.0–3.4 in SL, angle of preopercle broadly rounded, bearing 4–9 small non-prominent serrae, midlateral part of lower jaw with 2 rows of teeth, tooth patches on vomer and palatines narrow, in 2–3 and 2–4 rows, respectively, and coloration including broad dark brown margins to the soft dorsal, anal and caudal fins. There are no dark spots on the head, body, or fins at any known size and in subadults there are two faint pale brown bars radiating from the eye to the posterior margin of the opercle, and diffuse irregular brown wavy bars and blotches on the sides of the body. Comparison of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO 1) genetic marker utilised in DNA barcoding produced modest but consistent genetic divergences of 1.10% and 2.70 % between E. fuscomarginatus sp. nov. and its closest sampled congeners, E. magniscuttis and E. epistictus, respectively. Further evidence is presented to indicate that populations of E. epistictus currently recognised from the Indian Ocean east to the Indo-Australian Archipelago may be distinct from those from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea. 


Nematology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1043-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farahnaz Jahanshahi Afshar ◽  
Ebrahim Pourjam ◽  
Majid Pedram

Summary Two populations of Lobocriconema were recovered from the rhizosphere of Parrotia persica in Rango forest, Gorgan, and Nargesi forest, Nokandeh, Golestan province, northern Iran. Both of the recovered populations were characterised using morphological (light and scanning electron microscopy), morphometric and molecular data based upon small, partial large and internal transcribed spacer 1 ribosomal RNA (SSU, LSU D2-D3, ITS1 rDNA) and the mitochondrial cytochrome c subunit oxidase I (COI mtDNA) gene sequences. The first examined population, recovered from Gorgan, was mainly characterised by having 34-39 retrorse body annuli 11-16 μm thick at mid-body with crenate, dentate and lobulate margins, longitudinal cuticular scratches on entire body on both lateral regions, sometimes one or two anastomoses along the body, a single labial annulus with smooth margin and smaller than the first body annulus, four distinct submedian lobes, simple open vulva with no overhang, and a terminal anus. This population was almost identical to Neolobocriconema iranense, a close examination of a topotype population recovered in this study confirming that they were conspecific. The second population, L. nokandense n. sp., was recovered from the Nokandeh and looked similar to the first population but was morphologically separated from it by a slightly crenate labial annulus under SEM (vs smooth), longer tail (13-21 vs 6-10 μm) and smaller ratio c (23.6-32.4 vs 44.7-86.0). In molecular phylogenetic analyses, the two populations formed a clade in both SSU and LSU phylogenies. In ITS1 and COI phylogenies, the Nokandeh population (the new species) formed a separate sister clade to the N. iranense clade. Detailed observations using SEM data revealed a small annulus between the submedian lobes and the single labial annulus, an open vulva and a slightly ornamented cuticle in all three studied populations (the newly recovered populations from Golestan and the topotype population of N. iranense from Mazandaran province and the new species), corroborating their placement under Lobocriconema. As a result, N. iranense was transferred to Lobocriconema as L. iranense n. comb. (= N. iranense). The new species was morphologically compared with its close relatives L. iranense n. comb., L. pauperum, L. incrassatum, and L. nasuense, all of which having the aforementioned small annulus between the submedian lobes and the first labial annulus. The phylogeny of the genus is discussed.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4603 (2) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALF BRITZ ◽  
V.K. ANOOP ◽  
NEELESH DAHANUKAR ◽  
RAJEEV RAGHAVAN

Aenigmachanna gollum, new genus and species, is described from Kerala, South India. It is the first subterranean species of the family Channidae. It has numerous derived and unique characters, separating it from both the Asian Channa Scopoli and the African Parachanna Teugels & Daget. Uniquely among channids, A. gollum has a very slender (maximum body depth only 11.1–11.3% SL), eel-like body (head length 20.8–21.6% SL), large mouth (jaw length 60.4–61.1 % HL), 43–44 anal-fin rays, 83–85 scales in a lateral series, an unusual colour pattern and it lacks pored lateral-line scales on the body and body buoyancy. In addition, it is distinguished by its DNA barcode sequence, which is 15.8–24.2% divergent from other species of the family Channidae. Morphological modifications usually associated with a subterranean life, such as reduction of eyes and enhancement of non-visual senses (taste, smell, mechanosensory systems) are absent in A. gollum. However, it shares with subterranean fishes a slight reduction of its pigmentation in comparison to epigean channids.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 349 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
LUÍS ADRIANO FUNEZ ◽  
GUSTAVO HASSEMER

We describe here Hoehnea grandiflora, a rare, critically endangered new species of Lamiaceae from high-elevation bogs in southern Brazil. The new species is similar to H. scutellarioides and can be distinguished by its shape and size of leaves, as some floral features. Its conservation status is assessed as Critically Endangered, because the new species is known from only one population located in an environmentally unprotected area. Urgent conservation studies and actions are necessary to prevent the extinction of this species. We also provide an identification key to the five species in the genus Hoehnea.


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