Australoheros ricani, Santos De Lucena & Kullander & Norén & Calegari, 2023

Australoheros ricani , new species

‘ Australoheros ricani ’, Lucena, Kullander, Norén & Calegari, 2022:103 ; name unavailable owing to Lucena et al. (2022) having not been registered in ZooBank.

Definition. Based on observation of the morphology of adults in the type series, the position in the phylogenetic trees based on mt-cyb and mt-coI, and more than 3% divergence in minimum uncorrected p -distance from other species of Australoheros ( Lucena et al. 2022) View in CoL , A. ricani is a distinct evolutionary lineage. No morphological autapomorphy is registered. Specimens of A. ricani share with A. mboapari , A. forquilha View in CoL , and A. ykeregua View in CoL a row of minute scales along the dorsal-fin base extending cephalad to close to anterior insertion of dorsal fin (fourth dorsal-fin spine), and with A. mboapari a black soft dorsal fin in females (vs dorsal fin black throughout, or with black blotches at intervals). It is distinguished from A. mboapari by 3–5 rows of scales on cheek, exposed or discernible beneath skin cover.

Holotype. UFRGS 28500 View Materials , adult female, 75.5 mm SL; Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Jacuí drainage: Espumoso: Rio Morcego, tributary of the Rio Jaquí-mirim ; 28°53'55''S 52°49'0.5''W; K. Bonato and R. Dala-Corte, 18 Dec. 2012. GoogleMaps

Paratypes. All from Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul, upper Rio Jacuí drainage. Rio Jacuí-mirim : MCP 22779 View Materials , 1, 109.9 mm SL; Santa Bárbara do Sul: Arroio das Figueiras, on road from Cruz Alta to Saldanha , 28°26'39''S 53°12'37''W; R.E. Reis, E.H.L. Pereira and V.A. Bertaco, 2 Apr. 1999. GoogleMaps — Espumoso: Rio Morcego , MCP 50427 View Materials , 2 View Materials , DNA only, Rio Morcego, local road between Espumoso and Soledade , 28° 53'55.0''S 52° 49'05.0''W; T. Carvalho, R. Angrizani, and J. Chuctaya, 12 Oct. 2016. GoogleMaps — Mormaço: Rio Quati , 28°38'52''S 52°37'11''W: UFRGS 22015 View Materials , 1 juv.; K.O. Bonato, P.C. Silva, C. Hartmann, and A. Langoni, 26 Aug. 2012 GoogleMaps — UFRGS 22016 View Materials , 4 juvs; K.O. Bonato, J. Wingert, L.G. Artioli, 27 Aug. 2012. — UFRGS 22020 View Materials , 3, 20.9–56.9 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, A. Hirschmann, A. Hartmann and A. Langoni, 20 Apr. 2013. — UFRGS 22026 View Materials , 4, 27.4–90.7 mm SL; UFRGS 22028 View Materials , 4, 39.8–77.3 mm SL; K. Bonato, N. Bertier, A. Hirschmann, 21 June 2012. — UFRGS 22036 View Materials , 4, 22.6–92.0 mm SL; K. Bonato, N. Bertier, A. Hirschmann, 19 Oct. 2012. — UFRGS 22037 View Materials , 4: 41.1–76.6 mm SL; K. Bonato, N. Bertier, A. Hirschmann, 19 Dec. 2012. — Espumoso: Rio Morcego , 28°53'55''S 52°49'0.5''W: UFRGS 19968 View Materials , 11, 4 measured, 22.4–84.9 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, J. Ferrer, C. Voguel and L. Cavalheiro, 19 June 2012. GoogleMaps — UFRGS 22027 View Materials , 8, 14.0– 81.6 mm SL, K. Bonato, A. Hirschmann, C. Hartmann and S. Langoni, 20 Apr. 2013. — UFRGS 22029 View Materials , 9, 19.5–100.9 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, P.C. Silva, C. Hartmann and A. Langoni, 27 June 2013. — UFRGS 22033 View Materials , 4, 24.1–29.8 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, J. Wingert, and L.G. Artioli, 24 Aug. 2012 — UFRGS 22038 View Materials , 3, 29.2–72.5 mm SL; K.O Bonato, N. Bertier and A. Hirschmann, 18 Oct. 2012. — UFRGS 22039 View Materials , 4, 37.3–73.2 mm SL; K. Bonato, and R. Dala-Corte, 18 Dec. 2012 — UFRGS 22040 View Materials , 15, 13.7–64.9 mm SL; K.O. Bonato and J. Ferrer, 22 Feb 2013. — Espumoso, Rio Turvo , 28°43'47''S 52°47'40.4''W: UFRGS 22017 View Materials , 54.7–63.7 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, and R. Dala-Corte, 17 Dec. 2012. GoogleMaps — UFRGS 22019 View Materials , 1, 51.0 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, A. Hirschmann, A. Hartmann, and A. Langoni, 19 Apr. 2013. — UFRGS 22025 View Materials , 3, 57.8–68.3 mm SL; K.O. Bonato, J. Ferrer, N. Bertier and A. Hirschmann, 29 Oct. 2012. — UFRGS 22032 View Materials , 1 juv.; K.O. Bonato, J. Wingert and L.G. Artioli, 26 Aug. 2012. — UFRGS 22034 View Materials , 2 juvs; K.O. Bonato, N. Bertier, and A. Hirschmann, 29 Oct. 2012. — Espumoso, Rio Turvo , 28°43'S 52°47''W: UFRGS 22021 View Materials , 2 juvs; K.O. Bonato, J. Ferrer and C. Voguel, 29 June 2012.

Explanation of specific name. Oldřich Říčan, University of South Bohemia, was the first to recognise Australoheros species richness, and made the pioneering analyses, discovering and highlighting the phylogeny and species richness of inland species of Australoheros . The specific name is a noun in the genitive case.

Comparative data for Australoheros mboapari and Australoheros ricani . In the Rio Jacuí drainage, Australoheros mboapari is most similar to the geographically adjacent A. ricani , e.g., in the long row of minute scales along the dorsal-fin base, and absent or indistinct caudal spot. The rare number of five anal-fin spines is recorded from both species. Nonparametric comparison of counts showed that they are distinct (Mann-Whitney U test, p= 0.000 –0.001) in overlapping number of anal-fin spines (modally five in A. ricani , six in A. mboapari ), dorsal-fin spines (modally 15 in A. ricani , 16 in A. mboapari ), E1 scales, upper and lower lateral line scales, but not in number of soft dorsal- and anal-fin rays, or pectoral-fin rays ( Lucena et al. 2022). Australoheros mboapari has the highest number of E1 scales recorded in the genus, modally 26, occasionally 27. Twenty-six E1 scales are frequent also in A. forquilha and A. ricani . Australoheros mboapari differs from A. ricani in slopes on SL of preorbital depth, lower jaw length, head width, pectoral-fin length, and length of last dorsal-fin spine ( ANOVA p <0.05), and on intercept on head length, snout length, orbital diameter, interorbital width, and upper jaw length ( ANCOVA, p <0.05) ( Lucena et al. 2022). The slight difference in jaw lengths shows in the proportional measurements, ( Lucena et al. 2022: figs 13–16, where the size ranges are reasonably comparable), A. mboapari has slightly shorter upper jaw (8.8–10.9 %SL (vs 10.2–11.5 in A. ricani ), and lower jaw (11.7–14.2%SL vs 13.1–15.7% in A. ricani ). Australoheros mboapari has deeper preorbital than the other coastal Australoheros except for A. acaroides ( Lucena et al. 2022: tables 3–16). This character, however, is positively allometric, and only extremely large specimens of A. acaroides have a deep lachrymal bone ( Lucena et al. 2022).