‘Shy’ aquarium pet — with ‘bright red’ teeth — discovered as new species from Brazil
Deep below the surface of a river in northern Brazil, a “shy” creature tucked its “armored” body into a rocky crevice. Divers spotted the patterned animal and recognized it as a popular aquarium pet.
It also turned out to be a new species.
Scientists visited the Xingu River several times between 2004 and 2017 to survey wildlife, according to a study published Feb. 10 in the peer-reviewed journal Neotropical Ichthyology. One of the areas they focused on was “the impact zone” of a hydroelectric power plant.
During the visits, researchers worked with local fishermen to collect dozens of catfish “well known from the ornamental fish trade,” the study said. These fish had never been scientifically classified, despite being popular aquarium pets for decades.
Looking at the catfish, researchers quickly realized they’d discovered a new species: Hypancistrus yudja, or the Yudjá armored catfish.
Yudjá armored catfish are considered “small,” reaching up to 2.5 inches in length, the study said. They have “short and deep” bodies covered in armor-like “plates.” Their heads have “small” eyes and “thin, delicate” teeth with “bright red” tops.
Photos show the “unique color pattern” of the new species. Its markings vary but generally include “relatively large brown blotches” on a “light tan background.”
In the wild, Yudjá armored catfish live about 50 feet down in rocky crevices, the study said. Commercial fishermen caught them “individually by hand during diving sessions aided by air compressors or scuba equipment.”
In captivity, the new species is “fairly shy” and “remains secluded in caves for most of the day,” researchers said. “Expert aquarium hobbyists have successfully bred this species.”
Yudjá armored catfish are likely critically endangered and “at high risk of extinction,” the study said. They live only in a small stretch of the Xingu River in Pará State of northern Brazil and face “severe environmental degradation” due to a hydroelectric complex, “natural flood and drought cycles, and exploitation for the ornamental fish trade.”
Previously, the new species has been known by several informal names, often including the word “zebra.” Researchers said they named the new species after the indigenous Yudjá, or Juruna, people because it lives in their territory and has been a source of income for them.
“Both the Yudjá people and (the new species) are struggling to survive the environmental impacts of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex … and their fate is connected and deeply threatened,” the study said.
The research team included Leandro Melo de Sousa, Erilda Barbosa de Sousa, Renildo de Oliveira Ribeiro, Mark Sabaj, Jansen Zuanon and Lúcia Rapp Py-Daniel. The team also discovered a second new species of armored catfish.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM with the headline "‘Shy’ aquarium pet — with ‘bright red’ teeth — discovered as new species from Brazil."
