Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello, 1988

Ramos, Telton Pedro Anselmo, Neto, Luciano De Freitas Barros, Ferreira, Karina Carvalho Fernandes & Barbosa, José Etham De Lucena, 2020, Redescription of Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello, 1988 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 4751 (2), pp. 321-332 : 322-330

Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello, 1988

Figs. 1–4 , Tables 1–2

Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello, 1988: 117–128 , fig. 1. Type locality: Córrego do Otaviano, Poço do Sanharó, Riacho Sanharó, Piauí, Brazil (Otaviano stream, Sanharó pit, creek Sanharó, Piauí, Brazil)”, holotype MNRJ 10531.

Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello (1988) : Lacerda & Evers (1996): 88, 92 (ilustration); Burgess & Finley (1996):170; Isbrücker (2001): 31 (literature compilation); Ribeiro et al. (2002): 218; Britski & Garavello (2002): 287 (literature compilation); Isbrücker (2002): 25 (literature compilation); Reis et al. (2003): 326 (checklist of species); Rosa et al. (2003) (list of species); Lehmann A. & Reis (2012):62 (literature compilation); Gauger & Buckup (2005): 517 (literature compilation); Ferraris, Jr. (2007): 282 (checklist and catalogue of species); Ramos et al. (2013): 788 (literature compilation); Ramos et al. (2014): 4; Ramos et al. (2016):10 (comparative material); Rodrigues-Filho et al. (2016): (new record); Lima et al. (2017): (literature compilation); Ramos et al. (2017):7 (comparative material); Berbel-Filho et al. (2018) (literature compilation).

Diagnosis. Parotocinclus haroldoi is distinguished from all its congeners, except from P. amazonensis Garavello , P. aripuanensis Garavello , P. bidentatus Gauger & Buckup , P. britskii Boeseman , P. cabessadecuia Ramos, Lima & Ramos , P. collinsae Schmidt & Ferraris , P. cristatus Garavello , P. dani Roxo, Silva & Oliveira , P. jimi Garavello , P. longirostris Garavello , P. yaka Lehmann, Lima & Reis , P. maculicauda (Steindachner) P. muriaensis Gauger & Buckup , P. planicauda Garavello & Britski , P. polyochrus Schaefer , P. spilurus (Fowler) and P. variola Lehmann, Schvambach & Reis by having the abdomen entirely covered by plates between the pectoral girdle and preanal region ( Figs. 1 , 2 and 3 ), (vs. abdomen completely naked or abdomen nearly naked, with only one or two row of plates on each side and median row of platelets irregularly distributed). Parotocinclus haroldoi differs from P. amazonensis by having a higher number of teeth (26) (vs. less 16) and from P. longirostris and P. polyochrus by having a smaller number of teeth in the premaxillary and dentary (18–26) (vs.>31); from P. bidentatus , P. cabessadecuia , P. dani , P. muriaensis and P. spilurus by present presence of an adipose fin (vs. adipose fin rudimentary or absent); from P. cristatus and P. jimi by having the abdomen covered by relatively broad dermal plates (vs. covered by small dermal plates). Parotocinclus haroldoi differs from P. aripuanensis , P. britskii , P. collinsae , P. yaka , P. maculicauda , P. planicauda and P. variola by the presence of small bright spots on the head and the body, usually less than the eye diameter predominantly disposed in rows (vs. body without bright spots). Besides the presence of the spots, P. haroldoi differ from P. britskii and P. collinsae by having 24–26 lateral plates (vs. 21–23) and from P. planicauda and P. britskii by the presence of an abdomen covered by broad dermal plates forming 3–5 series longitudinal of plates (vs. covered by small dermal plates; 7–10 series longitudinal of plates). In addition Parotocinclus haroldoi differs from geographically close species, P. cabessadecuia , P. cesarpintoi , P. cearensis and P. spilosoma by the presence of small light spots on the head and trunk (vs. absence); from P. cabessadecuia , P. seridoensis and P. spilurus by present presence of an adipose fin (vs. adipose fin rudimentary or absent).

Description. Morphometric and meristic data of topotypes are presented in Table 1 and 2, respectively (largest examined specimen 46.2 mm SL). Body slightly short and somewhat depressed. Greatest body width at cleithrum, progressively tapering to the end of caudal peduncle. Dorsal profile slightly convex from snout to dorsal-fin origin; slightly concave from dorsal-fin origin to adipose fin; straight at adipose fin base; slightly concave from this point to origin of uppermost caudal-fin rays. Ventral body profile of head straight or slightly concave; ventral profile of trunk somewhat convex from pectoral girdle to posterior base of pelvic fin; ventral profile of trunk somewhat convex from pectoral girdle to posterior base of pelvic fin; somewhat concave of the anus origin to lowermost caudal-fin rays. Head and snout depressed and rounded in dorsal view. Eyes relatively small, dorsolaterally positioned midway between snout tip and pterotic-supracleithrum anterior margin; distance between orbit margin and ventral surface of head greater than orbital diameter. Dorsal iris operculum present. Interorbital space slightly convex. Pectoral girdle completely exposed and covered by odontodes, except for small triangular anterior area over median suture where skin is visible in some specimens, arrector fossae small, almost meeting in at midline. Greatest body depth at dorsal-fin origin, inferior rostral margin of snout with posteriorly directed odontodes; odontodes on upper part of head, arranged in rows and similar in size those of the inferior rostral margin of snout. Oral disk ovate with numerous small papillae; maxillary barbels shorter than orbital diameter. All teeth short and bifid. Trunk depressed at insertion of dorsal and anal fin. Caudal peduncle rounded in cross section.

Dorsal fin i,7; its origin immediately posterior to unbranched first ray of the pelvic-fin; other rays branched; dorsal fin when adpressed extending to vertical through beyond anal-fin base. Adipose fin present. Pectoral fin i,6; unbranched pectoral fin first ray, slightly curved, covered with small odontodes, reaching one quarter to one third of length of first pelvic-fin ray; other rays branched. Pelvic-fin rays i,5; unbranched first ray curved, covered with small odontodes; pelvic-fin reaching beyond anus, ending just anterior to anal-fin origin. Anal-fin i,5; base covering three plates. Caudal fin i,14,i; slightly notched, with lower lobe slightly longer than upper. Lateral-line canal in median series complete, pore tube visible. Abdomen completely covered of dermal plates between the pectoral girdle and the anus; with five to seven rows of elongate plates. Dorsal-fin spine flexible, with locking mechanism nonfunctional, followed by seven branched rays. Nuchal plate exposed, not covered by skin. Dorsal-fin spinelet present, V-shaped, wider than base of dorsal spine. Total vertebrae 21 (2 c&s).

Coloration. Background color in ethanol of dorsal and lateral surfaces dark brown to grayish, with four lighter dark brown bars inconspicuous on the upper part of the trunk; most previous at the dorsal fin origin; the second on the base of the dorsal fin; the third at the adipose fin origin and the last on the caudal peduncle, near the origin of the caudal fin. Side with a dark brown band extending from the previous part or the snout to the caudal peduncle. Clear yellowish small elongated spots on the dorsal and lateral regions of the head and trunk, lighter patch in the pineal region; the spots of the trunk generally converging in two series on the lateral ( Figs. 1 , 2 ). Ventral region of the head and abdomen (trunk) yellowish. Fins with dark chromatophores concentrated, forming irregular set of stripes that alternates between dark brown and yellow clear: dorsal fin of three or four stripes; pectoral, pelvic and anal fins of two or three stripes dark brown inconspicuous. Caudal fin with three stripes dark, the first two rather dark: one transversal on the base of fin, the second a bar oblique only in the lower lobe and third transversal inconspicuous in both lobes.

Coloration in life follows the same pattern described above, with the small elongated spots yellowish pattern more evident ( Fig. 4 ).

Distribution. Parotocinclus haroldoi is known from the Parnaíba river basin ( Fig. 5 ). The Parnaíba river basin extends in Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão States, Northeast, Brazil, in Caatinga and Cerrado region. Parotocinclus haroldoi was collected at various locations in the upper, middle and low portions of the rio Parnaíba, suggesting a wide geographic distribution of the species within the basin, large portion of places under the Caatinga domain and a small portion of the high Parnaíba, in the Cerrado. Specimens were collected in the main course of the rio Parnaíba, and also on tributaries Gurgueia, Canindé-Piauí, Poti and Longá. In its original description, Garavello (1988) only mention the Córrego do Otaviano, Pocó do Sanharó, riacho Sanharó, Piauí as its type locality, not specifying the municipality.

Sexual dimorphism. Males possess urogenital papilla positioned just behind anal opening. No other characters of sexual dimorphism were recorded in Parotocinclus haroldoi , as described for example for P. cabessadecuia in Ramos et al. (2017) ,

Ecological notes. Parotocinclus haroldoi is usually found in moderate current flow in rivers with rock bottom and gravel substrate, at rivers under the dominion of the Caatinga and Cerrado. Parotocinclus haroldoi was registered in co-occurrence in rio Guaribas, tributary of Canindé-Piauí with other loricariids: Ancistrus damasceni (Steindachner) , Loricariichthys derbyi Fowler , Hypostomus johnii (Steindachner) and Hypostomus sp. Other co-occuring species were Aequidens tetramerus (Heckel) , Astyanax bimaculatus (Linnaeus) , Astyanax fasciatus (Cuvier) , Caenotropus labyrinthicus (Kner) , Characidium zebra Eigenmann , Cichlasoma sanctifranciscense Kullander , Compsura heterura Eigenmann , Crenicichla menezesi Ploeg , Curimatella immaculata (Fernández-Yépez) , Geophagus parnaibae Staeck & Schindler , Hemiodus parnaguae Eigenmann & Henn , Hoplias malabaricus (Bloch) , Leporinus piau Lutken , Jupiaba polylepis (Günther) , Knodus victoriae (Steindachner) , Phenacogaster calverti (Fowl- er), Pimelodus sp., Poecilia sarrafae Bragança & Costa , Potamotrygon signata Garman , Prochilodus lacustris Steindachner , Psellogrammus kennedyi (Eigenmann) , Pygocentrus nattereri Kner , Schizodon rostratus (Borodin) , Serrapinnus piaba (Lütken) , Steindachnerina notonota (Miranda Ribeiro) and Triportheus signatus (Garman) .

Common name. Cascudinho, chupa-pedra.

Conservation. Parotocinclus haroldoi possesses a relatively broad distribution, occurring at the upper, middle and down portions of the rio Parnaíba basin, including well preserved areas close to the Parque Nacional das Nascentes do Rio Parnaíba, a national park. Therefore, is classified as Least Concern (LC) according MMA (2014) and IUCN (2019).

Comparative material examined. All listed specimens are alcohol-preserved (except when noted). All from Brazil: Parotocinclus haroldoi : UFPB 7032 , 4 , 24.7–25.8 mm SL, rio Guaribas, Torrões village , Picos-Piauí, 07°08’11.2’’S 41°31’20.5’’W ; UFPB 7039 , 18 , 18.1–24.5 mm SL, rio Guaribas , Picos-Piauí, 07°08’07.2’’S 41°31’26.5’’W ; UFPB 7341 , 49 , 20.7–26.7 mm SL, stream Poção, São João village , Barras-Piauí, 04°07’04.4”S 42°20’36.8”W ; UFPB 7342 , 117 , 16.3 –29.0 mm SL, rio Marathoan, tributary of rio Longá , under the bridge on highway PI-113, Barras-Piauí, 04°15’13.0”S 42°17’18.7”W ; UFPB 8334 , 4 , 13.8–24.6 mm SL, rio Parnaíba , União- Piauí, 04°34’52.3’’S 42°52’31.3’’W ; UFPB 8335 , 4 , 13.02–24.76 mm SL, rio Parnaíba , União-Piauí, 04°33’42.3’’S 42°52’01.8’’W ; UFPB 9719 , 2 , 23.1–26.7 mm SL, stream of Cruz, on highway BR-316, Monsenhor Gil-Piauí, 05°35’00.9’’S 42°36’53.6’’W ; UFPB 9717 , 3 , 15.3 mm SL, rio Longá, Parque Ecológico Cachoeira do Urubu , Esperantina-Piauí, 03°54’43.1”S 42°06’47.5”W ; UFPB 9723 , 5 , 11.7–17.7 mm SL, stream Gameleira, Demerval Lobão-Piauí, 05°19’28.9”S 42°35’10.1”W ; UFRN 1251, 1, 25.5 mm SL, rio Guaribas, Torrões Village , Picos-Piauí, 07°09’13.3’’S 41°30’10.8’’W ; UFRN 2218, 31 (2 c&s), 21.2–28.7 mm SL, rio Piauí, leaking of Jenipapo reservoir, São João do Piauí-Piauí , 08°27’13.8’’S 42°09’53.2’’W ; UFRN 5650, 1, 22.7 mm SL, Rio Pejuaba ,, leaking of Piracuruca reservoir, Alto Alegre-Piauí, 04°00’15.6’’S 41°26’53.4’’W ; UFPB 9718 , 51 , 13.7–19.2 mm SL, stream tributary of rio Longá , Esperantina-Piauí, 03°54’41.5’’S 42°15’22.0’’W ; UFPB 9720 , 6 , 15.2–17.6 mm SL, rio Jenipapo , under bridge on highway BR 343 , Campo Maior-Piauí, 04°46’45.5’’S 42°06’53.6’’W ; UFPB 9721 , 3 , 21.0– 21.3 mm SL, stream Povo dos Homens, tributary of rio Longá , Caxingó-Piauí, 03°25’12.1”S 41°53’46.2”W ; UFPB 9722 , 7 , 13.5–16.3 mm SL, rio Longá, Nossa Senhora de Nazaré-Piauí , 04°40’20.6’’S 42°13’00.5’’W ; UFPB 7040 , 80 , 15.7–24.2 mm SL, rio Jacaraí , under bridge on highway PI-111, Piracuruca-Piauí, 03°44’00.1”S 41°40’56.4”W ; Parotocinclus cabessadecuia : UFPB 10029 , holótipo, 29.3 mm SL, rio Gurgueia, rio Parnaíba basin, São Gonçalo do Gurgueia-Piauí 10°06’27.0”S 45°21’24.0”W ; Parotocinclus minutus : UFBA 3644 , 5 , 27.1–33.3 mm SL, rio Vaza Barris, APA Serra Branca, Raso da Catarina , Geremoabo-Bahia; Parotocinclus bahiensis : UFBA 4601 , 18 , 11.3–28.9 mm SL, Rio Paiaiá, in BA 131 between Saúde and Pindobaçu , rio Itapicuru basin, Saúde-Bahia; Parotocinclus cristatus : UFBA 5575 , 3 , 30.0– 36.1 mm SL, Rio Água Preta do Mocambo, rio Almada basin, Uruçuca-Bahia; Parotocinclus jimi : UFBA 3848 , 12 , 23.3–29.3 mm SL, Rio de Contas , Piatã-Bahia; Parotocinclus cearensis : MNRJ 8689 , 10 , paratypes, 20.6–24.2 mm SL, Cachoeira do Gusmão , Ipu-Paraíba; P. cesarpintoi : MNRJ 1022 , 10 , syntypes, 34.6–41.6 mm SL, Riacho Quebrângulo, Quebrângulo-Alagoas; P. jumbo : UFPB 4118 , 6 , paratypes, 23.0– 27.4 mm SL, rio Gurinhem at bridge on road PB 055, Sapé-Paraíba, 7°08’54”S 35°14’03”W ; P. maculicauda : UFRN 1010, 10, 23.0– 33.7 mm SL, rio São João, Silva Jardim-Rio de Janeiro , 22°34’58.53”S 42°34’30.73”W ; P. spilosoma : UFRN 0698, 19 (1 c&s), 19.6–40.4 mm SL, rio Paraíba do Norte, Cruz do Espírito Santo-Paraíba , 7°8’57.6”S 35°7’17.8”W ; P. spilurus : UFPB 9012 , 9 , topotypes, 17.7–31.3 mm SL, rio Salgado, rio Jaguaribe basin, Icó-Ceará, 6°24’28.9”S 38°52’6.6”W ;

Discussion

In the description of Parotocinclus haroldoi, Garavello (1988) registers as the type locality “córrego do Otaviano, Riacho Sanharó, Piauí State, Brazil ”. In hydrographic maps there is no mention of a stream called Otaviano, but there is a populated place called Sanharó (6°58’59.99”S 40°37’59.99”W), municipality of Pio IX, in eastern Piauí State. This locality is situated in the Canindé-Piauí tributary, in the Parnaíba basin, in the Caatinga region, and may be the type locality of P. haroldoi . Attempted collection in this locality was unsuccessful because the streams of the region were dry during the collection period, however, a few kilometers below, in the same drainage the species was collected.

The presence of small bright spots on the head and trunk is not reported in the description of color presented by Garavello (1988) for the description of Parotocinclus haroldoi , likely because of the conditions of material col- lected. Another factor observed with freshly collected material is the difference found in the number of teeth of the premaxilla (20–24) and dental (19–23) vs. 20–28 and 20–25 in the new respectively material.

Garavello (1977) separates the species of the Parotocinclus genus into two groups according to the size of the denticles on the body plates and on the lower surface of the rostral margin of head: the P. maculicauda and P. spilosoma groups. Garavello (1988) includes Parotocinclus haroldoi in the spilosoma group characterized by denticles as small and feeble. Furthermore, P. haroldoi has an abdomen entirely covered with many plates, a situation that is not found in the remaining species of the P. spilosoma group, which have the abdomen almost naked, with a single row of elongate reduced plates on each side and a group of small rounded plates irregularly distributed on preanal region, with exception of P. spilurus .

Gauber & Buckup (2005) in a parsimony analysis of the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae , found that P. haroldoi forms a clade with P. cearensis and P. cesarpintoi . According to Lehmann (2006), in a study of phylogeny of the family Loricariidae using morphological characters, P. haroldoi forms a clade with other species from the Northeast: P. cesarpintoi , P. spilurus and P. seridoensis . Parotocinclus haroldoi is the only one of these species that has plates transversely elongated in median abdomen.

Parotocinclus haroldoi was recorded occurring in syntopy with P. cearensis and P. cabessadecuia in the drainage system of the Parnaíba River basin.

Some authors separate Parotocinclus into two nonmonophyletic assemblages, based on morphology and geographical distribution. Parotocinclus haroldoi is allocated into an assembly that is distributed in the Brazilian Shield, from South to Northeast Brazil and are grouped by having the canal cheek plate on the ventral surface of the head rounded, not expanded posteriorly and not contacting the cleithrum ( Lehmann & Reis, 2012; Lehmann et al., 2014; Lehmann et al., 2015; Lehmann et al. 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views of Parotocinclus haroldoi, holotype, MNRJ 10531, 35.8 mm SL, female, Brazil, córrego do Otaviano, Riacho Sanharó, Piauí, Brazil (Foto: Sergio Santos).

FIGURE 2. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views of Parotocinclus haroldoi, UFRN 2218, 28.7 mm SL male, rio Piauí, leaking of Jenipapo reservoir, São João do Piauí, Piauí, Brazil.

FIGURE 3. Ventral view of abdominal region showing series of plates in Parotocinclus haroldoi, UFRN 2218 (28.7 mm SL). Abbreviations: LPS, lateral plate series; MPS, median plate series; PAR, preanal region.

FIGURE 4. Parotocinclus haroldoi, live specimen (UFRN 2219, 28.5 mm SL) just after collection, rio Piauí, spillway of Jenipapo reservoir, São João do Piauí, Piauí, Brazil.

FIGURE 5. Geographic distribution of Parotoncinclus haroldoi in the rio Parnaíba basin, Northeastern Brazil.