Aspidoras kiriri Oliveira, Zanata, Tencatt & Britto, 2017

Tencatt, Luiz Fernando Caserta, Britto, Marcelo R., Isbrücker, Isaäc Jan Hendrik & Pavanelli, Carla Simone, 2022, Taxonomy of the armored catfish genus Aspidoras (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) revisited, with the description of a new species, Neotropical Ichthyology (e 220040) 20 (3), pp. 1-159 : 75-76

Aspidoras kiriri Oliveira, Zanata, Tencatt & Britto, 2017

Aspidoras kiriri Oliveira, Zanata, Tencatt & Britto, 2017 :e160118[1]‒e160118[8] (original description; type locality: riacho Cai-Camarão , Bahia State, Brazil).

Diagnosis. Aspidoras kiriri can be distinguished from its congeners, with exception of A. aldebaran , A. belenos , and A. raimundi , by having parapophysis of the complex vertebra well developed (vs. moderately developed in A. depinnai , A. lakoi , A. maculosus , A. mephisto , A. poecilus , A. psammatides , and A. velites ; poorly or moderately developed in A. albater and A. fuscoguttatus ; poorly developed in A. azaghal ); it can be distinguished from A. aldebaran and A. belenos by the absence of small spots on dorsal fin (vs. presence); from A. raimundi by the presence of dark brown or black blotches on dorso- and/or ventrolateral body plates fused with flank midline blotches (vs. not fused). Additionally, A. kiriri can be distinguished from A. albater , A. azaghal , A. gabrieli , A. lakoi , A. mephisto , A. psammatides , and A. rochai by having a narrow frontal bone, with width slightly smaller than half of entire length ( Fig. 3A ) (vs. relatively wide, with width equal to or slightly larger than half of entire length in A. albater , A. azaghal , A. gabrieli , A. lakoi , A. mephisto , and A. rochai , Fig. 3B ; extremely narrow, with width conspicuously smaller than half of entire length in A. psammatides , Fig. 3C ).

Conservation status. Aspidoras kiriri can be classified as Least Concern (LC), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories and criteria (IUCN, 2019). For details supporting this status, see Oliveira et al. (2017:e160118[7]).

Remarks. Although the description of Aspidoras kiriri is recent, the discovery of additional specimens revealed variations in one of its main diagnostic features. The diagnosis proposed by Oliveira et al. (2017) considered that A. kiriri always presents infraorbital 1 with well-developed laminar expansion, whereas it was also possible to find specimens with moderately-developed expansion in the new material. Since the infraorbital 1 character was the first step to differ A. kiriri from all of its congeners, the remaining steps of the diagnosis by Oliveira et al. (2017) were also compromised. Therefore, a new diagnosis was provided herein.

Material examined. In addition to the material listed by Oliveira et al. (2017:e160118[3]), the following specimens were analysed. All from Brazil, Bahia, rio da Dona basin, rio Itauá. MZFS 14872, 30 of 53, 15.9‒31.3 mm SL; MZFS 14875, 10, 19.2–34.6 mm SL.

Figures

FIGURE 3 | Dorsal view of the head of CS specimens showing the three patterns of paired frontal bones (outlined in black) in Aspidoras: (A) narrow, with width of each frontal slightly smaller than half of its entire length (Aspidoras maculosus, UFBA 3291, 30.7 mm SL), (B) relatively wide, with width equal to or slightly larger than half of entire length (Aspidoras albater, MZUSP 40793, 29.4 mm SL), and (C) extremely narrow, with width clearly smaller than half of entire length (Aspidoras psammatides, UNT 9604, 27.3 mm SL). Scale bars = 1 mm.