''Pareiorhaphis garapia''Lehmann A., Pablo & Pereira, Edson & Schvambach, Lucas & Reis, Roberto. (2015). A new species of Pareiorhaphis (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the headwaters of the Arroio Garapiá, coastal drainage of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. 10.13140/RG.2.1.3693.2563. is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

in the family Loricariidae. It is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, where it occurs in the

Tramandaí River The Tramandaí River is a river of Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Rio Grande do Sul List of rivers in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin from north to south, wi ...

basin in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is found upstream of the 12 m (39 ft) high Garapiá

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

, at elevations higher than 409 m (1342 ft) above sea level. It is known to occur alongside the species '' Pareiohaphis nudulus'' and ''

Rineloricaria aequalicuspis ''Rineloricaria aequalicuspis'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it is known only from Brazil. It is typically found in creeks and rivers of a variety of widths, where it occurs at various dep ...

'', alongside members of the genera ''

Astyanax In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; grc, Ἀστυάναξ ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, 1 ...

'' and ''

Rhamdia ''Rhamdia'' is a genus of three-barbeled catfishes found in Mexico, Central and South America. These catfishes are nocturnal, opportunistic carnivores, found in a wide range of freshwater habitats. This genus includes a number of troglobitic me ...

''. The species reaches 6 cm (2.4 inches) in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

and is believed to be a facultative air-breather. The stream in which ''Pareiorhaphis garapia'' occurs is characterized by clear water, dense riparian vegetation, a depth of up to 50 cm (19.7 inches), a width of 3 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft), a strong current, a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

ic substrate composed primarily of rocks, and a forest canopy that blocks direct sunlight. The water in which it occurs has been found to have a temperature of 16.5 °C (61.7 °F), a pH of 7.6, a conductivity of 35.3

μS A microsecond is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one millionth (0.000001 or 10−6 or ) of a second. Its symbol is μs, sometimes simplified to us when Unicode is not available. A microsecond is equal to 1000 ...

/cm, and an

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

concentration of 10.4 mg/L.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21345719 Fish described in 2015 Catfish of South America Freshwater fish of Brazil