A new species of Otothyropsis (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the upper Río Paraná basin, Paraguay, with a discussion of the limits between Otothyropsis and Hisonotus.

Abstract

Otothyropsis dialeukos is described from Itá creek, tributary to the upper Río Paraná basin, Paraguay. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by having a unique caudal-fin coloration pattern composed of a brown to almost black background with roundish hyaline blotches in the middle of the outermost branched rays and a hyaline posterior border interrupted in middle rays; abdomen entirely covered by enlarged plates, without naked areas; longer pectoral- and dorsal-fin spines; absence of a raised crest of enlarged odontodes on the posterior portion of the parieto-supraoccipital, and other morphometric and meristic features. Morphological traits and geographic distributions of all species of Otothyropsis and Hisonotus are analyzed and a discussion on the limits between those genera is presented.