Leporinus brinco

description

Description. Morphometric data in Table 3. Moderate in size, relative to congeners. Largest examined specimen 187.2 mm SL. Head and body elongate and moderately compressed. Dorsal profile of head and body straight from snout tip to tip of supraoccipital, and gently convex from latter point to dorsal-fin insertion, somewhat straight along dorsal-fin base, straight from terminus of dorsal-fin base to adipose-fin origin, and distinctly concave from adipose-fin origin to base of anteriormost procurrent ray of caudal fin. Ventral profile straight to slightly concave from lower jaw to vertical through posterior margin of opercle, gently convex from latter point to pelvic-fin origin, straight or slightly convex from pelvic-fin origin to anal-fin origin, somewhat straight along anal-fin base, and concave from terminus of anal-fin base to base of anteriormost procurrent ray of caudal fin. Greatest body depth at dorsal-fin origin. Mouth subinferior, and horizontally aligned with ventral margin of infraorbitals, in specimens around 50 mm SL or longer (Fig. 10 a-b). Mouth subterminal in specimens around 40 mm SL (Fig. 10 c) and slightly upturned in specimens around 25 mm SL (Fig. 10 d). Snout

Two new species of Leporinus Agassiz (Characiformes: Anostomidae) from eastern basins of Brazil, and redescription of L. melanopleura Günther

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Leporinus brinco is distinguished from all congeners by having a bright red blotch immediately dorsal to pectoral-fin origin in live specimens (vs. absent), three dark blotches along the lateral line that distinctly increase in size posteriorly (vs. three dark blotches absent or, when present, decreasing in size posteriorly, as in Leporinus friderici (Bloch), and dark longitudinal lines between the scale rows on the side of body (vs. longitudinal lines absent in all congeners except L. cylindriformis Borodin, L. macrocephalus Garavello & Britski, and L. nattereri Steindachner.

Two new species of Leporinus Agassiz (Characiformes: Anostomidae) from eastern basins of Brazil, and redescription of L. melanopleura Günther

distribution

Distribution. Leporinus brinco is known from the rio de Contas and its tributaries (Fig. 13), a medium size coastal river in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil (Fig. 4).

Two new species of Leporinus Agassiz (Characiformes: Anostomidae) from eastern basins of Brazil, and redescription of L. melanopleura Günther

etymology

Etymology. The specific name brinco is in reference to the vernacular name of the species, “ piau-brinco ”, which means a species of Leporinus (“ piau ”) with an earring (“ brinco ” in Portuguese) in allusion to the red blotch behind the head, immediately dorsal to pectoral-fin origin. A noun in apposition.

Two new species of Leporinus Agassiz (Characiformes: Anostomidae) from eastern basins of Brazil, and redescription of L. melanopleura Günther