A new species of Cambeva (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) from an area of high anthropogenic impacts in the headwaters of Rio Iguacu, Southern Brazil

Cambeva piraquara, sp. nov., a restricted-range and rare species last collected from over 20 years ago, is described from the Rio Piraquara, upper Rio Iguacu basin, Rio Parana (La Plata) system. The new species is distinguished from all congeners by having two conspicuous dark-brown longitudinal stripes on the inner skin layer of body over a plain yellowish background: a conspicuous wide and well-defined dark-brown longitudinal mid-lateral stripe extending from the opercular patch of odontodes to the first third of caudal-fin rays and a dorso-sagittal stripe comprising large and coalescent rounded blotches extending from occipital to the dorsal-fin base. We provide an illustrated osteological description and assess the conservation status of the new species, which faces several environmental impacts in the upper Rio Iguacu basin. Key words: biodiversity conservation, fish taxonomy, Neotropical fishes, Trichomycterinae, Trichomycterus
Introduction Trichomycteridae is the second species-rich family of Siluriformes with approximately 380 species (Fricke et al. 2022a). Trichomycterids are characterized by having a complex opercular apparatus with the interopercular and [...]