Gymnogeophagus setequedas Reis, Malabarba & Pavanelli

Synonymy

Gymnogeophagus setequedas Reis, Malabarba & Pavanelli, 1992. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 3, p. 267, fig. 2 (Rio Iguazú reservoir at Juan E. O'Leary, Rio Paraná drainage, Province of Alto Paraná, Paraguay (approximately 55°30'S 25°20´W)).

Gymnogeophagus setequedas.Fresh preserved specimen from Rio Monday, Paraguay. Photo: S.O. Kullander.

Diagnosis

A small species with 23-25 scales in a lateral row, most similar to G. rhabdotus and G. meridionalis, but without the conspicuous light stripes or spots on the unpaired fins characterising those species. Gymnogeophagus setequedas has a weakly expressed lateral band running between upper and lower lateral line, and a conspicuous narrow dark band along the dorsal fin margin, not present in G. rhabdotus or G. meridionalis. Conspicuous blue horisontal stripes typical of G. meridionalis and G. rhabdotus are barely visible in G. setequedas

The largest specimen recorded is 98.9 mm SL.

Etymology

setequedas — a noun in apposition derived from the name of the major falls of the Rio Paraná, the Sete Quedas (Portuguese, meaning Seven Falls), which were drowned in the Itaipu Reservoir in 1983, but apparently formed the natural upstream limit of distribution of the species.

Local names

Not recorded.

Geographical distribution

Brazilian and Paraguayan tributaries of the Rio Paraná from the Río Monday to the Río Carapá. Most of those localities are now within the Itaipu or Acaray Reservoirs, from which the species is also collected.

Remarks

Gymnogeophagus setequedas was first described by Kullander (1981), who misidentified it as G. cf. australis.

References

KULLANDER, S.O. 1981. Cichlid fishes from the La Plata basin. Part I. Collections from Paraguay in the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Geneve. Revue suisse de Zoologie, 88: 675-692.
REIS, R.E., L.R. MALABARBA & C.S. PAVANELLI. 1992. Gymnogeophagus setequedas, a new cichlid species (Teleostei: Labroidei) from middle Rio Paraná system, Brazil and Paraguay. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 3: 265-272.