new species:
Trichomycterus minus Fernández & Schaefer, 2003
published in:
Fernández, L. & R.P. Vari (2012):
New Species of Trichomycterus (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from the Andean Cordillera of Argentina and the Second Record of the Genus in Thermal Waters.
Copeia 2012 (4): 631-636
abstract (from publication):
Trichomycterus minus, new species, is described from an Andean stream in Provincia de Catamarca, Argentina. The new species is distinguished from congeners by the number of supraorbital pores, the form of the supraorbital canal within the frontal, the length of the lateral line canal, the shape of the supraorbital tendon bone, the size of the premaxilla, the form of the barbels, an absence of a thick layer of rugose fatty tissue on the head and body, the number and degree of exposure of odontodes on the interopercle, the limited compression of the caudal peduncle, details of pigmentation, the number of premaxillary tooth rows, and the head form from a dorsal view. Trichomycterus corduvensis is recorded from thermal waters, the second locality known to be inhabited by members of the genus.
type locality:
Argentina, Provincia de Catamarca, Departamento Belén, Río Cuevas, 2.318 m a.s.l. (27°04’S 66°39’W); Holotype MCN 1528 (75,4 mm SL)
distribution (from publication):
Trichomycterus minus is known only from the type locality. The species is the ninth in the genus apparently endemic to water systems of the southern Andes in Chile (T. chungaraensis, Arratia, 1983; T. laucaensis, Arratia, 1983) and Argentina (T. ramosus, Fernández, 2000; T. catamarcensis, Fernández and Vari, 2000; T. belensis, Fernández and Vari, 2002; T. yuska, Fernández and Schaefer, 2003; T. pseudosilvinichthys, Fernández and Vari, 2004; and T. hualco, Fernández and Vari, 2009).