Paulasquama callis Armbruster & Taphorn, 2011

Family:  Loricariidae (Armored catfishes), subfamily: Hypostominae
Max. size:  4.72 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  benthopelagic; freshwater
Distribution:  South America: NW Guyana (Waruma River, tributary of the Mazaruni River).
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 2-2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7-7; Anal soft rays: 5-5. This species is distinguished from all other hypostomines by three unique autapomorphies: large, oval area lateral to the mesethmoid that is devoid of plates; plates in the dorsal series lateral to dorsal fin reduced to less than half what would be expected for a loricariid of its size; and, a fleshy keel along and slightly anterior to the preadipose plate and extending to dorsal caudal-fin simple ray along dorsal procurrent rays (Ref. 86603).
Biology:  The collection area Waruma is a largely clearwater river with a slight black tint. Specimens collected in a riffle, in a shallow side channel over polished cobble and gravel with some larger rocks covered in a grasslike vegetation. The watershed is forested (Ref. 86603).
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 16 October 2020 (B1a+2a) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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