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This formerly undescribed species of Spinopterus is now described (Rocha at el 2019) and is known from the Rio Nanay and Dorado Lake, PacayaSamiria National Reserve, Peru (Kasa, 2009) and has been in the hobby on a few occasions. lt is known by its common name by Peruvian exporters as "Novia Otorongo". What differs Spinipterus moijiri from Spinipterus acsi  (apart from the obvious difference in colour and pattern) is that in the former the pectoral and dorsal fin spines get proportionately much longer, particularly when adult, and the additional rows of spines on these fins are not as distinct (but they are present) and are arranged in a different formation on the pectoral fin spines (Grant S., 2011). The combination of features make impossible to place the new species into any of the existing auchenipterid genera, so the authors, Akama & Ferraris, created a new genus Spinipterus. Description: The new species differs from the congener by the following characters: (1) colour pattern with large black rosette-like spots over a light yellow to brown background (v. brown background with small dark blotches over the body); (2) adult body size reaching 104.5?mm LS (v. maximum known size 37.1?mm LS); (3) posterior process of cleithrum short, never reaching vertical through the dorsal-fin origin (v. posterior process long, surpassing vertical through the dorsal-fin origin); (4) seven soft pectoral-fin rays (v. six); (5) caudal fin truncated (v. caudal fin rounded). Abstract from Rocha et al 2019: An expedition to the middle Río Purus basin uncovered a remarkable new species of the genus Spinipterus. The new species has a very distinct and conspicuous colour pattern resembling a jaguar and it is almost four times larger than Spinipterus acsi, a small specimen (32?mm LS) from Caño Santa Rita, a right bank tributary of Río Nanay in Peru and a second specimen was reported from Río Juruá, Amazonas State, Brazil. Although the new species is more similar in size and colour pattern to Liosomadoras, it shares the synapomorphies for Spinipterus. Etymology: Spinipterus: Name derived from Latin 'spina' for spine and Greek 'pterus' meaning wing, referring to the serrated nature of fin spines. The specific epithet moijiri (Spinipterus moiijri) comes from Moijiri; this species is known among the Paumari Indians that inhabit the Río Tapauá, Purus basin. The meaning of the specific name of Moijiri is unknown so far. The Paumari language belongs to the Arawa linguistic group.

Otorongo woodcat, Novia Otorongo

None

Auchenipteridae

South America: Peru, Río Otorongo

10.5cm. (4¼ins)

20-26°C (67-79°F)

6.0-8.0.

Akama, A & CJ Ferraris Jr, 2011. Spinipterus, a new genus of small, spiny catfish (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Peruvian Amazon. Zootaxa 2992: 52-60.
Grant, Steven. Spinipterus acsi Akama & Ferraris 2011 - A new, strange, dwarf Driftwood Catfish, with comments on the 'Novia Otorongo' Woodcatfish (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae). CatChat, The Journal of the Catfish Study Group. Volume 12, Issue 4. October 2011.
Rocha, M. Rossoni, F. Akama, A. Zuanon, J. 2019. A new species of spiny driftwood catfish Spinipterus (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Amazon basin.