Threatened fishes of the world: Crenicichla jupiaensis Britski & Luengo 1968 (Cichlidae)

Abstract

Common name: joaninha, joana-listrada. Conservationstatus: Endangered in Brazilian Red List (Rosa andLima 2005). Identification: 14–17 narrow vertical barsalong the flanks; five or six gill rakers in the firstceratobranchial; cheeks partially scaly; suborbital stripemodified into a group of spots; caudal spot as a verticalbar (Britski and Luengo 1968; Graca and Pavanelli2007). Holotype drawing by E. Baena. Distribution:Endemic to the upper Parana River basin, Brazil.Abundance: No published information is available onabundance of C. jupiaensis; however, recent fieldworksin the upper Parana River basin have revealed thatspecies only within the Piquiri River, where localdensities are low. The type-locality of C. jupiaensis,Urubupunga Falls, Parana River, was flooded by JupiaReservoir in 1974. Despite of that fishes have beensurveyed throughout the entire upper Parana River,including the type-locality region, only 77 specimensare archived among Brazilian collections. From those62 were collected before the impoundment in 1974 andonly two after that and before the 13 recently caught inthe Piquiri River. Habitat and ecology: Rapids; in thePiquiri River it has occurred mainly in the littoral zone.Maximum length recorded, 120 mm SL (Graca andPavanelli 2007). Karyotype, 2n=48 (2m+4sm+10st+32a); and FN=64 (Lorscheider et al. 2007). Threats:Decline of Crenicichla jupiaensis populations seems tobe caused primarily by constructions of dams anddestruction of lotic habitats. Other impacts on C.jupiaensis are difficult to assess, because of scantinformation about metapopulation dynamics, biologyand ecology. Conservation actions: Brazilian environ-mental laws prohibit capturing species designated asendangered. Conservation recommendations: Effectivehabitat protection, especially in the Piquiri River basin,and detailed studies of current status, biology and