Two new species of the banjo catfish Bunocephalus Kner (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) from the upper and middle rio São Francisco basins, Brazil

Tiago P Carvalho,John P Friel,Alexandre R Cardoso,Roberto E Reis

doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20140152

Abstract

Two new species of banjo catfish of the genus Bunocephalus are described from the upper and middle rio São Francisco basins of Brazil. Bunocephalus hartti is distinguished from all its congeners by the absence of serrations along the anterior margin of pectoral-fin spine in adults (vs. presence of serrations along the anterior margin of the spine). Bunocephalus minerim can be diagnosed from all congeners,except B. larai, by the absence of an epiphyseal bar between the paired frontals (vs. presence of the epiphyseal bar at least in adults). Bunocephalus minerim is distinguished from B. larai and other congeners, except B. chamaizelus , by having nine principal caudal-fin rays (vs. 10 principal caudal-fin rays).

Highlights

Bunocephalus Kner, 1855 belongs to Aspredinidae, a group of Siluriformes known as banjo catfishes, recognized by their distinctively depressed head and body, followed by a slender caudal peduncle, resembling a banjo (Myers, 1960; Friel, 2003)
The new species described in Bunocephalus share three apomorphic features proposed by Friel (1994) to a clade composed by Amaralia and Bunocephalus: middle nuchal plate ornamentation well developed; posterior margin of basipterygium jagged and lateral line ossicles with small hooks, this last feature being variable in B. minerim
The new species do not share most of the seven apomorphic features of Amaralia (Friel, 1994), except for the presence of four branchiostegal rays and absence of serration on anterior portion of pectoral-fin spine in B. hartti

Summary

Introduction

Bunocephalus Kner, 1855 belongs to Aspredinidae, a group of Siluriformes known as banjo catfishes, recognized by their distinctively depressed head and body, followed by a slender caudal peduncle, resembling a banjo (Myers, 1960; Friel, 2003). Bunocephalus species are of no commercial interest for food, but several of them appear regularly in the ornamental fish trade (Friel, 2003). In an attempt to improve aspredinid classification, some species previously included in Bunocephalus (e.g., Friel, 2003; Ferraris, 2007) were placed in a new genus, Pseudobunocephalus Friel, 2008. Hitherto there is not an unambiguous diagnosis for Bunocephalus, and there is no evidence that the remaining species still included in this genus do form a monophyletic group. Species that are included and were recently described in Bunocephalus lack the synapomorphic characters of other genera of Aspredinidae (Friel, 1994; Cardoso, 2010)

Methods

Results

Conclusion