Neotropical Ichthyology Print version ISSN 1679-6225On-line version ISSN 1982-0224 Neotrop. ichthyol. vol.16 no.2 Maringá 2018 Epub July 16, 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-20170086 ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Description of a new species of Moenkhausia (Characiformes: Characidae) from the upper Paraguay basin, Central Brazil, with comments on its phylogenetic relationships
1Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (IBB-UNESP), R. Prof. Dr. Antonio C. W. Zanin, s/n, Rubião Jr, 18618-689 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. (RB) britzker@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1042-2544 (corresponding autor), (CO) claudio@ibb.unesp.br
2Universidad Técnica de Machala, Unidad Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Km. 41/2 Vía Machala-Pasaje. 070150. Machala, El Oro, Ecuador.
3Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso - Campus de Tangará da Serra, 78300-000 Tangará da Serra, MT, Brazil. waldotroy@unemat.br
4Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista (IBB-UNESP), R. Prof. Dr. Antonio C. W. Zanin, s/n, Rubião Jr, 18618-689 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. rbenine@ibb.unesp.br
ABSTRACT
A new species of Moenkhausia is described from tributaries of the upper rio Sepotuba, Paraguay basin, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of characters, including an inconspicuous oval-shaped vertically elongated humeral blotch, extending horizontally from third through five lateral-line scales, and vertically from third row above lateral line to first row below it, followed by a diffuse field of dark chromatophores in the flank, combined with a well-defined dark line at the base of the anal fin. Furthermore, the phylogenetic position of the new species is presented based on molecular data, showing a close relationship among species of Moenkhausia and Hemigrammus that have a well-defined dark line at the base of the anal fin. Until this moment, this species is only known from in the upper rio Sepotuba basin.