Pacus, Myloplus spp., are Characiforme Fish closely related to Piranhas, found in the rivers of South America. They are highly specialized herbevores consuming nuts and hard seeds, which they crush with a double row of molar-like teeth that run across the front of their jaws.
In a paper published in the journal Zookeys on 7 March 2016, Marcelo Andrade of the Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira e Manejo dos Recursos Aquáticos and Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Aquática e Pesca at the Universidade Federal do Pará, Michel Jégu of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement and the Laboratoire d´Icthyologie at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle and Tommaso Giarrizzo, also of the Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira e Manejo dos Recursos Aquáticos and Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Aquática e Pesca at the Universidade Federal do Pará and of the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Conservação, again at the Universidade Federal do Pará, describe a new species of Pacu from the Rio Madeira Basin of Brazil.
The new species is named Myloplus zorroi, in honour of the ichthyologist Mauricio Camargo-Zorro of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia for his work on the Fish of the Marmelos Conservation Area, and also inrefference to the fictional character Zorro, who wore a mask to conceal his identity. It is unusually large for a Pacu, reaching 351.1 mm in length and 62.5 mm in depth, and has a number of unusual features, notably the absence of an abdominal keel and of the fused prepelvic spines which form a serrae (saw-like structure) in other Pacu, differences that initially led to the species being identified as a member of the related genus Tometes, though examination of its teeth eventually led to it being placed in the genus Mylopus.
Myloplus zorroi was found living in moderate to fast flowing rivers with rocky or sandy bottoms in the Rio Madeira Basin, part of its range falling within the Campos Amazônicos National Park (formerly known as the Marmelos Conservation Area).
See also...
African Tigerfish observed snatching Barn Swallows from the air. A variety of Fish are known to occasionally take Birds as prey. Sharks
and other large carnivorous marine...
The bite of the Megapiranha. Piranhas are carnivorous Characid Fish from the Amazon river basin with a
reputation for stripping large animals to the bone in seconds. While
this reputation...
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The new species is named Myloplus zorroi, in honour of the ichthyologist Mauricio Camargo-Zorro of the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia for his work on the Fish of the Marmelos Conservation Area, and also inrefference to the fictional character Zorro, who wore a mask to conceal his identity. It is unusually large for a Pacu, reaching 351.1 mm in length and 62.5 mm in depth, and has a number of unusual features, notably the absence of an abdominal keel and of the fused prepelvic spines which form a serrae (saw-like structure) in other Pacu, differences that initially led to the species being identified as a member of the related genus Tometes, though examination of its teeth eventually led to it being placed in the genus Mylopus.
Myloplus zorroi, female (a) and male (b). Andrade et al. (2016).
Myloplus zorroi was found living in moderate to fast flowing rivers with rocky or sandy bottoms in the Rio Madeira Basin, part of its range falling within the Campos Amazônicos National Park (formerly known as the Marmelos Conservation Area).
Corredeira dos Periquitos, Rio Aripuanã, type locality of Myloplus zorroi, Rio Madeira Basin,
Brazil. Andrade et al. (2016).
Brazil. Andrade et al. (2016).
See also...
African Tigerfish observed snatching Barn Swallows from the air. A variety of Fish are known to occasionally take Birds as prey. Sharks
and other large carnivorous marine...
The bite of the Megapiranha. Piranhas are carnivorous Characid Fish from the Amazon river basin with a
reputation for stripping large animals to the bone in seconds. While
this reputation...Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.