Two new species of Heptapterus (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) from the Uruguay River basin, Brazil

• Published in: Journal of fish biology Vol. 94; no. 3; pp. 352 - 373
• Main Authors: Faustino‐Fuster, Dario R., Bockmann, Flávio A., Malabarba, Luiz R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2019; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Brazil; catfish; Catfishes - anatomy & histology; Catfishes - classification; Catfishes - genetics; Coastal streams; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Endemic species; endemism; Female; Fin ray counts; Fins; Heptapterus; Heptapterus mustelinus; Male; Meristic counts; Mitochondrial DNA; New species; Nucleotide sequence; Phylogeny; River basins; Rivers; Taxonomic revision; taxonomy; Tributaries; Uruguay; Uruguay River; Vertebrae; Brazil; Uruguay; Heptapterus mustelinus; Uruguay River; endemism; taxonomy; catfish
• ISSN: 0022-1112; 1095-8649
• DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13908

As part of an ongoing taxonomic revision of the genus Heptapterus from the Laguna dos Patos and Uruguay River drainages and Atlantic coastal streams of southern Brazil and Uruguay, two new species closely related to Heptapterus mustelinus were identified. Both species are endemic to small tributaries of the Uruguay River. The two new species are distinguished from each other and from other species of Heptapterus by arrangement of cephalic and trunk laterosensory systems, number of vertebrae and number of dorsal, pectoral and anal‐fin rays. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA (coI and cytb) sequence data further supports distinctiveness of the two new species.