''Spinipterus moijiri'' (''moijiri'' Paumari) is a species of

driftwood catfish The driftwood catfishes are catfishes of the family Auchenipteridae. The two genera of the former family Ageneiosidae have been placed here, resulting in a grouping of about 125 species in about 22 genera. These fish are found in rivers from Pan ...

found in the

Juruá River The Juruá River (Portuguese ''Rio Juruá''; Spanish ''Río Yuruá'') is a southern affluent river of the Amazon River west of the Purus River, sharing with this the bottom of the immense inland Amazon depression, and having all the characteristic ...

, Brazil and

Nanay River The Nanay River is a river in northern Peru. It is a tributary of the Amazon River, merging into this river at the city of Iquitos. The lower part of the Nanay flows to the north and west of the city, while the Itaya River flows to the south and ...

in Peru, on an expedition in around 2012. At 10 cm long the catfish is roughly four times the size of the other only known member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. Specimens spend the day in a tight space in rocks and wood, emerging at night to feed. The fish is about 10 cm long, thumb-shaped and has skin patterned with

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

like rosettes. It has a stumpy face similar to a

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

, prickles on its head. The dorsal and two front fins have saw-like serrations.

References

External links

Reef To Rainforest Media
Auchenipteridae Fish of Brazil Fish of Peru Taxa named by Luiz A. Rocha Taxa named by Alberto Akama Fish described in 2019 {{Siluriformes-stub