NEWS107
44
Crenuchus
cf
.spilurus
Venezuela,male
Bryconops
cf.
caudomaculatus
Venezuela
Serrasalmus
cf
.altispinis
typical of
C. spilurus
in both sexes. The
males develop very large fins. The other
species remains somewhat smaller, has a
more reddishbase color, exhibits the cau-
dal-peduncle spot only indistinctly or not
atall,andhas lesswell-developed fins.The
two specieswere importedmixed toget-
her. They purportedly originate from the
Ventuari drainage. It is unknownwhether
they alsooccur together in thewildor in
the samedistribution regionbut different
bodiesofwater.
Bryconops
cf.
caudomaculatus
"Venezuela"
Alongwith the
Crenuchus
AquariumGlaser
imported a new (at least to the aquarium
hobby)
Bryconops
species.Thisveryattrac-
tivespecieshasabeautiful red longitudinal
band. At present 12 described
Bryconops
species are known fromVenezuela,but so
farnoneof themhasbeen imported regu-
larly enoughor in sufficiently large num-
bers for us toget to know thembetter.At
present thecoloration isknownonly from
dead specimens preserved in alcohol. It is
tobe expected that the unidentifiedBry-
conopsspecieswillattain6-7cm in length.
The specimen in thephoto isaround4cm
longandhasbeen living foreightweeks in
the company of other small characins,
where it has provedpeaceful and easy to
maintain. Because of its attractive colora-
tion it canbeassumed that this
Bryconops
isalsoablackwater fish.
Serrasalmus
cf.
altispinis
AquariumGlaserhas received this juvenile
piranha, around15 cm in length, from the
Rio Xingu in Brazil. The rest of the con-
signment consisted of
Serrasalmus ma-
nueli
.The identificationof juvenilepiranhas
of the genus
Serrasalmus
is exceptionally
difficult, as the specific differences are
oftenclearlydevelopedonly in specimens
more than 30 cm in length. In addition
many important diagnostic characters of
the species canbe seenonly indissected
dead specimens. And obviously one do-
esn't kill such a valuable specimen solely
for the purpose of identification.The fish
does, however, exhibit many points of
agreement with the only recently (2000)
described species
Serrasalmus altispinis
