New species of Leporinus (Characiformes: Anostomidae) from the highlands of the Guiana Shield in Venezuela
Author
Birindelli, José L. O.
Author
Britski, Heraldo A.
Author
Provenzano, Francisco
text
Neotropical Ichthyology
2019
2019-07-18
17
2
1
6
journal article
24028
10.1590/1982-0224-20190022
437cdaa8-9da8-4db4-8163-7d063db0be9e
1982-0224
3668093
BAA0E2DB-3FEB-4421-BB8C-0E78A7FDF81F
Leporinus tepui
,
new species
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:
BAA0E2DB-3FEB-4421-BB8C- 0E78A7FDF81F
Fig. 1
Leporinus arcus
.—Chernoff, Machado-Allison, Riseng, Mointambault, 2003: 70 (upper Caura River, AquaRAP report).
Holotype
.
FMNH
45711, 143.7 mm
SL,
Venezuela
,
Bolívar
,
río Orinoco
basin,
Chimantá-tepuí
, c.
5°18’N
62°10’W
,
27 Mar 1953
,
J. Steyermark.
Paratypes
.
All
from
Venezuela
,
Bolívar
,
río Orinoco
basin
.
MZUEL 21000
,
1
,
42.8 mm
SL
;
MZUSP 124855
,
1
,
41.3 mm
SL
.
FMNH 109898
,
2
, 41.0-
69.6 mm
SL,
Raudal
(rapids) in
río Erebato
and mouth of creek across river,
río Caura
drainage,
5°52’44”N
64°29’34”W
,
27 Nov 2000
,
F. Provenzano
,
B. Chernoff
,
A. Rojas
, A.
Machado-Allison
.
FMNH 109899
,
2
,
37.6-45.6 mm
SL,
Rocks
with grasses on side of island near
Salto Para-Quyuna
,
río Eretabo
,
río Caura
drainage,
6°18’56”N
64°29’11”W
,
30 Nov 2000
,
F. Provenzano
,
B. Chernoff
,
A. Rojas
,
A. Machado-Allison
.
FMNH 109900
,
1
,
40.9 mm
SL, rocky beach above
Salto Para-Quyuna Soodii
,
río Eretabo
,
río Caura
drainage,
6°18’39”N
64°29’2”W
,
30 Nov 2000
,
F. Provenzano
,
B. Chernoff
,
A. Rojas
, A.
Machado-Allison
.
MBUCV 26643
,
3
,
30.1-32.8 mm
SL,
Salto Para
,
río Arriba
,
17 Sep 1993
,
F. Provenzano
,
A. Machado
,
D. Machado
,
C. Marcano
, C.
Silvera
, A.
Rojas
.
MBUCV 20733
,
4
,
29.6-43.3 mm
SL,
Raudal Guaiquinima
, 2h downstream from
Camp Carapo
,
río Paragua
,
19 Feb 1990
,
S. Ramirez
,
A. Machado
.
MBUCV 30202
,
2
,
33.5-45.2 mm
SL,
río Caura
, isla at
Raudal del Perro
,
5°54’10”N
64°29’27”W
,
27 Nov 2000
,
F. Provenzano
,
A. Machado
,
A. Rojas
, B.
Chernoff
.
UF 77784
,
1
,
45.5 mm
SL,
río Erebato
,
24 Mar 1984
,
S. Reid
, L
.
R
.
Franz
.
Fig. 1.
Leporinus tepui
,
new species
: (a) FMNH 109898, paratype, 69.6 mm SL; (b) FMNH 45711, holotype, 143.7 mm SL.
Diagnosis.
Leporinus tepui
is distinguished from all other
Anostomidae
, except
Anostomus anostomus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
,
A. brevior
Géry, 1961
,
A. ternetzi
Fernández-Yépez, 1949
,
Hypomasticus despaxi
(Puyo, 1943)
,
Leporinus arcus
Eigenmann, 1912
, and
L. striatus
Kner, 1858
, for having four dark longitudinal stripes on body. The new species is distinguished from the species of
Anostomus
Scopoli, 1777
by having terminal mouth (
vs
. upturned) and 12 scale series around caudal peduncle (
vs
. 16); from
Hypomasticus despaxi
and
Leporinus striatus
by having four teeth on premaxilla (
vs
. three), and 12 series of scales around caudal peduncle (
vs
. 16); and from
Leporinus arcus
by having 12 series of scales around caudal peduncle (
vs
. 16) and 34 to 36 scales on lateral line (
vs
. 36 to 38).
Description.
Morphometric data is provided in
Tab. 1
. Small size, relative to congeners; largest examined specimen
143.7 mm
SL. Head and body elongate and moderately compressed. Dorsal profile gently convex from snout tip to dorsal-fin origin, slightly convex along dorsal-fin base, more or less straight from end of dorsal-fin base to adiposefin origin, and slightly concave from adipose-fin origin to anteriormost dorsal caudal-fin procurrent ray. Ventral profile slightly to strongly concave from lower jaw to vertical through anterior margin of eye, straight to slightly concave from that point to vertical through posterior margin of opercle, convex from latter point to anal-fin origin, slightly convex along anal-fin base, and gently concave from analfin end to anteriormost ventral caudal-fin procurrent ray. Greatest body depth slightly anterior to dorsal-fin origin.
Mouth terminal, its cleft longitudinally aligned with ventral margin of iris. Snout rounded, anteriorly blunt. Premaxillary with four*(27) incisiform teeth gently decreasing in size from symphyseal tooth. Dentary with four*(23) or five(4) incisiform teeth also gently decreasing in size laterally. Teeth with two or three rudimentary cusps in specimens of
50 mm
SL or less.
Scale cycloid. Lateral line complete with 34(2), 35*(20), or 36(5) perforated scales, extending from supracleithrum to base of median caudal-fin rays. Horizontal scale rows between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line four*(22) or five(5). Horizontal scale rows between lateral line and pelvic-fin origin four*(27). Horizontal scale rows around caudal peduncle 12*(27). Predorsal scales from dorsal-fin origin to tip of supraoccipital spine 9(7), 10*(11) or 11(8).
Dorsal-fin rays ii,10*(27). Dorsal-fin origin slightly anterior to middle of standard length and to vertical through pelvic-fin origin; its distal margin gently concave. Adipose fin small, teardrop shaped, its origin approximately at vertical through base of last anal-fin ray. Pectoral-fin rays i,14*(9), i,15(12) or i,16(3); fin tip extending more than half the distance between origins of pectoral and pelvic fins; its distal margin slightly convex. Pelvic-fin rays i,8*(26); its distal margin slightly convex. Anal-fin rays ii,8*(26); fin origin approximately at vertical through third scale anterior to adipose-fin origin, when adpressed fin does not reach base of caudal-fin rays; its distal margin slightly concave. Principal caudal-fin rays i,8,9,i*(26). Caudal fin forked, lobes rounded, upper lobe slightly longer than lower lobe.
Coloration.
Ground color of head and body light brown and countershaded. Body with four dark longitudinal stripes: dorsalmost stripe almost middorsal, from head to dorsal-fin end, and one scale in depth; second stripe from head above opercle to base of caudal-fin upper lobe, one scale deep; third stripe midlateral, more conspicuous than other stripes, from dorsalmost portion of gill opening to base of median caudalfin rays, two scale depth; fourth stripe from pectoral insertion to anal-fin base, one scale deep. Head with one dark spot immediately posterior to sixth infraorbital, and a dark oblique stripe from top of snout to ventral margin of eye, and extending posteriorly to ventral portion of opercle. Ventral surfaces of head and body pale to cream. All fins uniformly tan.
Tab. 1.
Morphometric data for
Leporinus tepui
,
new species
, and
L. arcus
. SD = Standand Deviation; n = number of specimens.
Leporinus tepui
,
new species
|
Leporinus arcus
|
n |
Mean |
Range |
SD Holotype |
n |
Mean |
Range |
SD |
Holotype |
Standard Length (mm) |
27 |
29.6-143.7 |
143.7 |
18 |
36.4-308.5 |
189.8 |
Percentages of SL |
Predorsal distance |
16 |
51.0 |
46.9-55.2 |
2.13 |
47.7 |
10 |
48.3 |
46.4-52.3 |
1.74 |
46.5 |
Dorsal-fin origin to adipose-fin origin |
8 |
38.5 |
37.5-39.9 |
0.85 |
38.1 |
9 |
39.3 |
37.4-41.5 |
1.45 |
39.8 |
Prepelvic distance |
16 |
53.8 |
50.6-60.1 |
2.44 |
50.6 |
10 |
50.9 |
49.0-52.3 |
1.03 |
49.0 |
Body depth |
16 |
31.3 |
25.0-33.5 |
2.08 |
30.4 |
10 |
29.9 |
27.4-32.5 |
1.44 |
27.4 |
Caudal peduncle length |
16 |
12.0 |
10.7-13.4 |
0.67 |
10.9 |
10 |
10.9 |
10.2-11.9 |
0.55 |
10.3 |
Caudal peduncle depth |
8 |
12.6 |
11.4-13.5 |
0.71 |
13.4 |
9 |
12.6 |
9.4-14.6 |
1.75 |
13.8 |
Anal-fin lobe length |
16 |
17.7 |
10.8-20.1 |
2.15 |
16.3 |
10 |
15.8 |
14.6-18.0 |
0.97 |
15.4 |
Head length |
16 |
29.3 |
24.7-31.8 |
1.83 |
24.7 |
10 |
25.9 |
24.0-28.1 |
1.52 |
24.0 |
Percentages of HL |
Preopercle length |
8 |
77.2 |
75.0-82.3 |
2.38 |
77.2 |
9 |
77.8 |
75.0-82.3 |
2.42 |
75.0 |
Snout length |
16 |
38.1 |
33.6-42.9 |
2.63 |
39.7 |
10 |
39.9 |
35.8-41.9 |
1.89 |
40.0 |
Head depth |
8 |
82.7 |
78.8-88.2 |
3.41 |
88.2 |
9 |
82.7 |
76.3-92.9 |
4.56 |
84.2 |
Eye diameter |
16 |
30.9 |
23.1-35.4 |
2.90 |
23.1 |
10 |
23.0 |
15.8-28.4 |
4.48 |
22.2 |
Bony interorbital |
16 |
37.7 |
35.4-41.3 |
1.93 |
37.5 |
10 |
41.2 |
36.8-47.9 |
3.19 |
43.7 |
Geographic distribution.
Leporinus tepui
is known from tributaries of the río Orinoco basin, in the highlands of the
Guyana
Shield in
Venezuela
(
Fig. 2
).
Fig. 2.
Map of north portion of South America, showing the distribution of
Leporinus tepui
,
new species
(squares), and
L. arcus
(circles). Black symbols represent type localities.
Ecological notes.
Specimens of
Leporinus tepui
were collected in fast flowing environments among specimens of
L. granti
,
Moenkhausia
spp., and other
Characiformes (
Chernoff
et al
., 2003
)
.
Etymology.
The species name comes from the
type
locality of the new species, a Tepui. The Tepuis are characteristic table-top mountains found in the
Guiana
Shield highlands. The word Tepui means “house of the gods” in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people that inhabit the Gran Savana in
Venezuela
. A noun in apposition.
Conservation status.
The species is known only from few specimens collected in a remote, largely subsampled area of
Venezuela
. However, the apparently broad distribution of the species (at least
20.000 km
2
, considering a polygon uniting all known sites), and the fact that the area is relatively well preserved, leads us to consider it as a Least Concern species (LC, following IUCN criteria, IUCN, 2017).