Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 26 Feb 2010

New Rheophilic Species of Electric Knifefish from the Rapids and Waterfalls of the Lower Rio Xingu, Brazil (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae)

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Page Range: 160 – 164
DOI: 10.1643/CI-09-068
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Abstract

Sternarchogiton zuanoni, a new species of electric knifefish, is described from the rapids and waterfalls of Cachoeira de Kaituká along the Rio Xingu at Altamira, Pará, Brazil. The new species is diagnosable from congeners by a unique combination of morphometric and meristic features, details of pigmentation, the pattern of dentition on the dentary, the possession of an edentulous premaxilla, and an unelaborated lower lip. The description of S. zuanoni brings the number of species in the genus to five. The presence of S. labiatus in the Río Orinoco basin is documented and a key to the species of the genus is provided.

Resumo

Sternarchogiton zuanoni, uma espécie nova de peixe elétrico é descrita da Cachoeira de Kaituká no rio Xingu, Município de Altamira, Pará, Brasil. A espécie nova é diagnosticada de todos os congêneres por uma combinação única de caracteres morfométricos e merísticos, detalhes de pigmentação, arranjo dos dentes sobre o dentário, a ausência de dentes sobre o o pré-maxilar, e a forma do lábio inferior. A descrição de S. zuanoni eleva o número de espécies no gênero para cinco. A presença de S. labiatus na bacia do rio Orinoco é documentada e uma chave para as espécies do gênero é fornecida.

Copyright: 2010 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Fig. 1
Fig. 1

Holotype of Sternarchogiton zuanoni, INPA 28356, 178 mm TL, Brazil, Pará, Rio Xingu, Município de Altamira, Cachoeira de Kaituká.


Fig. 2
Fig. 2

Map of northern South America showing distribution of Sternarchogiton zuanoni (square  =  type locality) and S. labiatus (dots; localities in Amazon basin based on data in de Santana and Crampton [2007]).


Contributor Notes

Associate Editor: C. J. Ferraris.

Predoctoral Fellow, Division of Fishes, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MRC-159, National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012. Present address: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Av. André Araújo, 2936 Manaus, AM, 69060-001, Brazil; E-mail: apteronotidae@ig.com.br.
Division of Fishes, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, MRC-159, National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 37012, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012; E-mail: varir@si.edu. Send reprint requests to this address.
Received: 13 Apr 2009
Accepted: 23 Sept 2009
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