Hypostomus freirei and Hypostomus guajupia, new species
Posted: 23 Jan 2021, 04:41
Penido, I. S., Pessali, T. C., & Zawadzki, C. H. (2021). When destruction comes first: two new species of Hypostomus Lacépède, 1803 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from a ripped river in the Rio São Francisco Basin in Brazil. Journal of Fish Biology.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs ... /jfb.14674
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs ... /jfb.14674
Abstract
Environmental disasters affecting Brazilian rivers have been frequent recently, especially involving mining activities. Two recent dam‐rupture events suddenly released millions of cubic meters of iron tailings downstream into two major Brazilian watersheds. These events generated major losses to the environment and human life. Additionally, the biodiversity in both watershed was still incompletely known. Two new species of the armored catfish genus Hypostomus were discovered in the the Rio Paraopeba and surrounding rivers of the Rio São Francisco Basin. The species share some main characteristics including a depressed body, large dark spots on a clearer background and the absence of keels on flanks. However, while one species ( sp. n.) has a large mandibular ramus and numerous slender teeth, the other ( sp. n.) has a shorter mandibular ramus and few robust teeth. The discovery of these two new mid‐sized fish species emphasizes the presumption that the effects of major environmental disasters cannot be fully estimated as local biodiversity is not completely known. This discovery in a recently devastated area also shows that tough environmental laws of protection, supervision and mitigation of major impacts are urgently needed in developing countries.
