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IEF-611 (6) 283 Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 00, No. 0, pp. 000-000, 4 figs., 1 tabs., Xxxxxxxxx 0000 © 0000 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany – ISSN 0936-9902 Apteronotus magoi, a new species of ghost knifefish from the Orinoco basin Venezuela (Gymnotiformes: Apteronotidae) Carlos David de Santana*, Otto Castillo** & Donald Taphorn** Apteronotus magoi, new species, is described from Caño Bravo, Río Apure basin, Río Orinoco system, Barinas state, Venezuela. It is diagnosed from all species in Apteronotus by the unique combination of a dark brown to black body with a prominent, broad cream-colored or yellow band on the chin and the dorsal surface of the head; a narrow cream-colored band on the mid-dorsal region of body; and a caudal peduncle with a white background mottled with black or dark brown spots. Se describe Apteronotus magoi, una especie nueva de pez cuchillo fantasma, para el caño Bravo, una difluencia del río Apure en la cuenca del Orinoco, estado Barinas, Venezuela. Se diferencia de todas las especies del género Apteronotus por la siguiente combinación de caracteres: un cuerpo oscuro, negro o marrón, una banda ancha de color crema o amarillo sobre la barbilla y la superficie dorsal de la cabeza, y una banda más angosta de la misma coloración sobre la porción medio dorsal del cuerpo; el pedúnculo caudal de coloración blanquecina con manchas oscuras irregulares. Introduction with at least four of these, “Apteronotus” apuren- sis (Albert & Campos-da-Paz, 1998), Apteronotus Sixty-five species of the Gymnotiformes are re- macrostomus, Sternarchorhynchus roseni, and Ster- ported from Venezuela, of which 60 are known nachella orinoco, being endemic to this hydro- to inhabit the Río Orinoco basin (Lasso et al., 2004; graphic system. Recent collecting efforts con- Lundberg, 2005; de Santana & Taphorn, 2006). ducted by the second author in Caño Bravo, a The Neotropical family Apteronotidae, the ghost tributary of the Río Apure in Estado Barinas, electric knifefishes, includes 53 valid species yielded a new species belonging to Apteronotus (Albert, 2003; de Santana, 2003; de Santana et al., sensu Albert & Campos-da-Paz (1998). This genus 2004; de Santana & Maldonado-Ocampo, 2005; comprises 15 valid species, A. albifrons, A. brasili- de Santana & Taphorn, 2006), twenty of which ensis, A. caudimaculosus, A. cuchillo, A. cuchillejo, are known to occur in the Río Orinoco basin A. ellisi, A. eschmeyeri, A. jurubidae, A. leptorhyn- (Lasso et al., 2004; de Santana & Taphorn, 2006), chus, A. macrostomus, A. magdalenensis, A. mariae, * Division of Fishes, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, WG-15, MCR 159, Washing- ton, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] ** Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Guanare, Universidad Nacional Experimental de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequieluncorrected Zamora, Guanare, Portuguesa, 3323, Venezuela. proof copy Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 00, No. 0 284 A. milesi, A. rostratus, and A. spurrellii inhabiting belonging to Apteronotus sensu stricto see de streams and rivers of South and Central America Santana (2003), de Santana & Maldonado-Ocam- (Albert, 2001, 2003; de Santana, 2003; de Santana po (2004; 2005), de Santana & Crampton (2006) & Crampton, 2006). In this paper we describe a and de Santana et al. (2004). Institutional abbre- new species of ghost knifefish endemic to the Río viations follow Leviton et al. (1985). Water qual- Orinoco basin, Venezuela. ity values are from different days, at the type locality. Material and methods Apteronotus magoi, new species Measurements were taken as point-to-point lin- (Figs. 1-2) ear distances using a digital caliper with a preci- sion of 0.1 mm following the methods of Mago- Holotype. MCNG 54795, 237 mm TL; Venezuela: Leccia (1994) and Cox-Fernandes (1998). Anal and Barinas: Río Apure drainage, Caño Bravo, 08°00'S caudal-fin ray counts were taken using dissecting 67°59'W; O. Castillo et al., 3 Mar 2001. microscope with transmitted light. Counts of the holotype are given in brackets (when available). Paratypes. MCNG 54112, 3, 135-234 mm TL; Dietary preferences were determined by the MCNG 49291, 1, 190 mm TL; MCNG 49316, 1, visual analysis of stomach contents using a stereo- 240 mm TL; USNM 388024, 142 mm TL; same microscope. For additional examined material data as holotype. Table 1. Morphometric data of holotype and paratypes of Apteronotus magoi. holotype paratypes range mean n Total length [mm] 237.0 135.0-240.0 6 Length to end of anal fin [mm] 190.0 110.0-193.0 6 Head length [mm] 29.0 19.1-29.1 5 Tail length [mm] 48.3 24.8-52.7 5 Percents of length to end of anal fin Anal-fin base 67.9 67.0-78.4 69.9 6 Greatest body depth 12.6 7.2-14.7 12.2 6 Distance snout to anus 8.7 7.9-10.6 9.6 6 Head length 15.2 15.0-17.4 16.3 5 Pre anal distance 14.2 13.3-16.7 15.2 6 Pre pectoral distance 15.0 14.8-17.6 16.2 6 Tail length 30.0 25.3-33.5 28.4 5 Percents of head length Snout length 33.6 32.9-36.0 34.2 5 Mouth length 34.8 28.8-37.9 34.0 5 Eye diameter 4.7 5.7-7.0 6.2 5 Interocular width 19.7 17.6-22.4 19.0 5 Postocular distance 60.5 61.1-70.8 65.0 5 Pectoral-fin length 51.4 45.9-53.9 51.0 5 Internarial distance 11.4 9.2-10.8 10.0 5 Posterior naris to eye 5.7 6.1-7.8 7.1 5 Snout to posterior naris 58.6 58.3-88.6 75.8 5 Head depth at nape 68.7 63.0-70.7 66.1 5 Head width 43.9 38.9-42.4 41.2 5 Branchial opening 16.4 15.9-20.0 18.0 5 Percents of tail length uncorrectedTail depth 8.0 7.5-10.3proof 8.8 5 copy de Santana et al.: Apteronotus magoi 285 Fig. 1. Apteronotus magoi, holotype, MCNG 54795, 237 mm TL. Venezuela: Barinas: Caño Bravo. Scale bar 10 mm. Diagnosis. Apteronotus magoi is diagnosed from all other species of Apteronotus sensu stricto by the following combination of characters: the body is dark brown to black with a prominent cream- colored or yellow broad band on the chin and the anterior, dorsal midline of head, with a narrower band on the dorsal midline of body; and a white caudal peduncle overlain by mottled black or dark brown spots (Figs. 1-2). Although A. magoi resembles A. albifrons from the Río Orinoco basin, the latter has two well-defined light colored bands a on caudal peduncle throughout ontogeny. Aptero- notus magoi has a shallower caudal fin (7.5-10.3 % of caudal length, n = 6) than A. albifrons (18.3-30.4, n = 11, CU 72159, CU 72374). Description. Head and body shape, and pigmen- tation illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Morphomet- rics for holotype and paratypes presented in Table 1. Body laterally compressed, greatest body depth located at, or slightly posterior to, ab- b dominal cavity. Dorsal profile of body nearly straight. First anterior perforated scale of lateral Fig. 2. Apteronotus magoi, holotype, MCNG 54795, line located above pectoral-fin origin. Lateral line 237 mm TL: a, lateral; and b, dorsal views of head. extendinguncorrected posteriorly to base of caudal fin. Scale proof bars 10 mm. copy Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, Vol. 00, No. 0 286 Fig. 3. Map of Río Orinoco drainage and adjoining regions indicating type locality of Apteronotus magoi. Head laterally compressed, widest at opercu- inserted into narrow mid-dorsal groove almost lar region and deepest at nape. Dorsal profile of extending to, or slightly beyond, vertical through head convex. Dorsal margin of snout convex from posterior terminus of anal fin. Tail compressed vertical through anterior margin of eye to upper and short; ending in small, elongate caudal fin lip. Eye small, located laterally on head, and with 13-15 [15] rays. completely covered by thin membrane. Anterior naris located at end of small tube and close to tip Coloration in alcohol. Body dark brown to black. of snout. Posterior naris ellipsoid, without tube Prominent cream-colored or yellow broad band and positioned closer to anterior margin of eye present on chin and dorsal midline of head, and than to tip of snout. Mouth terminal, rictus pass- a narrow cream-colored or yellow band on mid- ing posterior of vertical through anterior border dorsal region of body. Pectoral fin dark brown. of eye. Branchial opening located slightly ante- Anal fin dark brown anteriorly with 126-131 [129] rior to vertical through pectoral-fin insertion. dark rays. Posterior portion of fin hyaline with Premaxilla with irregular rows of conical teeth. 21-25 [21] unpigmented rays. Base color of caudal Dentary longer than deep with two rows of peduncle white and overlain with mottled black conical teeth. or dark brown spots. Caudal fin dark brown Pectoral fin elongate, with iii, 13 or 14 [iii, 13] anteriorly, and hyaline posteriorly. rays. Anal-fin origin located at, or slightly ante- rior to, vertical through posterior margin of Distribution and habitat. Apteronotus magoi is opercle. Unbranched anal-fin rays 16-18 [17]; only known from the type locality in the Río total anal-fin rays 145-156 [150]. Scales above Apure drainage, at Caño Bravo, Barinas state, lateral line to middorsal line at mid-body 9-13 [10]. Venezuela (Fig. 3), which was collected repeat- Dark perforated scales on lateral line 61-67 [67].