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Costa, W. J. et al. 2026 (3)

Description: Cambeva insperata differs from all other congeners of CBS2 by having jaw teeth sub-incisiform, with rounded extremity, irregularly arranged (vs. incisiform jaw teeth arranged in two or three regular rows) and 39–41 vertebrae (vs. 36–38). Cambeva insperata also differs from all other species of CBS2, except C. admirabilis, by the absence of pelvic fin. Cambeva insperata differs from C. admirabilis by having shorter barbels, with the nasal barbel reaching area just posterior to orbit (vs. the opercular patch of odontodes) and the maxillary and rictal barbels reaching the anterior portion of the interopercular patch of odontodes (vs. reaching area between the interopercular patch of odontodes and the pectoral-fin base). Habitat: Upper Rio Chapecó channel, about 1245 m asl, where the river bottom consists of small pebbles and gravel, with some pebbles covered by unidentified aquatic plant. Specimens were found below pebbles near stream margin and in the middle of the river channel, or buried into the aquatic plant. Etymology: The genus name Cambeva: vernacular name for trichomycterids in southern and southeastern Brazil, derived from the Tupi a’kãg, head, and pewa, flat, referring dorsally flattened head. The specific name insperata: From the Latin insperata (unexpected), due to the unexpected finding of this new species when crossing a small road then used as an alternative way to reach another region.

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Trichomycteridae

South America: Upper Rio Chapecó drainage, Rio Uruguai basin, southern Brazil.

4.5cm. (1¾ins)

22-26°c (71-79°f.)

6.0-7.0.

Costa, W. J. E. M., Feltrin, C. R. M., Amorim, P. F., Mattos, J. L. O., & Katz, A. M. (2026). A Riverine Species Flock? A Remarkably High Diversity of Endemic Fossorial Catfishes, Genus Cambeva (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae), in a Small Mountain Drainage of Southern Brazil. Taxonomy, 6(3), 49.
Fish in the News 2026.