Technicolored creature — found in Brazil river — discovered as a new species. See it

Irene Wright
·2 min read

In a river drainage along the eastern coast of Brazil, rapid flowing freshwater pours into the Atlantic Ocean.

Here, the rocks make the water turbulent, so few fish are able to navigate the current pulling toward the sea.

But in between the smooth stones, brightly colored fish with fleshy whiskers move throughout the water.

They are species of Microglanis, a family of catfish known more for their presence in aquariums and fish tanks than out in the wild.

Hoping to inventory the fish species that call the river drainage home, a group of researchers collected samples from the river on multiple expeditions between 2012 and 2019, according to a study published in the Journal of Fish Biology on April 22.

When they took a closer look at a few of the catfish, it didn’t look quite like the others.

It was a new species.

Discover more new species

Thousands of new species are found each year. Here are three of our most eye-catching stories from the past week.

→Deep-sea creature — with 'rectangular' shape — discovered

→Sea creature 'adorned with gold' found on coral in Philippines

→Clawed forest creature found lurking near temple in India

The technicolored fish was similar in color to a known species, Microglanis cibelae, but the dark bands that wrapped around the body reached farther down to the fins on the bottom of the fish, according to the study.

The group of fish is sometimes called bumblebee catfish because of this striped coloration.

The new fish also had a “clear spot” at the base of the fish’s spine, the researchers said.

When the researchers looked at the build of the fish, they saw that the new species had a “depressed” body with “lower head and body depth,” shorter fins along the back and shorter barbels, the appendages that look like whiskers on the front of their face.

The DNA of the new fish confirmed their suspicions, and the new fish was named Microglanis lucenai, honoring ichthyologist Carlos Alberto Santos Lucena, who they credit with aiding in the “increasing knowledge” of neotropical fish, according to the study.

“Microglanis lucenair inhabits rapids, an unusual environment for Microglanis species,” the researchers said. “These rivers are characterized by a basaltic substrate composed of abundant rocks and pebbles, with strong current and crystal clear water.”

The flattened body shape and whiskers “seems to be adaptations to live among rocks in fast-flowing environments,” according to the study.

M. lucenair is a sympatric species, meaning it shares a common ancestor with another living species, and the two species evolved at the same time but in different directions, the researchers said. This explains why the new species wasn’t discovered until now, as it looks very similar to its sympatric species.

The new species was found in Santa Catarina, a state on the southeastern coast of Brazil.

Divers spot weird, blobby creature for first time off Morocco. See the ‘alien species’

Mountain creature — feared extinct after a quake — found swimming in Malaysia. See it

‘Large’ pregnant creature with ‘heart‑shaped’ spot found in China. It’s a new species

Glowing sea creature with 15 tentacles found off Florida coast. It’s a new species

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Snow leopard gives birth to 2 'little snowballs' at Toronto Zoo

    A snow leopard at the Toronto Zoo gave birth to two cubs this week, the Toronto Zoo has announced.Three-year-old Jita delivered the cubs after a few hours of labour. Her pregnancy had lasted 97 days. The first cub was born at about 7:45 p.m. Monday, while the second cub was born early Tuesday. Nine-year-old Pemba sired the cubs.The zoo said members of the public cannot yet view the "little snowballs" and their mom, but it will provide updates in the coming days and weeks about how and when the p

  • 'Ozzy Osbourne' no match for stubborn Colorado bear in neighborhood tree

    Wildlife officials said the bear had gotten in the trash and found food. When the rangers arrived, the bear was already in a tree.

  • Grey-headed chickadee listed as endangered in May

    The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) updated the status of twelve Canadian animals this month, and it included the Grey-headed Chickadee among the animals newly considered "endangered."Dr. Louise Blight is the co-chair of the COSEWIC advisory committee on birds. She said Grey-headed Chickadees live at the edge of the treeline in the Pacific Northwest, and were historically common near Old Crow. The bird is so rare that it is hard to estimate its population, she

  • 4 downy chicks born to Moncton pair of rooftop peregrine falcons

    Moncton has welcomed some new feathery friends. Two peregrine falcons that have been living in a nesting box atop the Assumption Building in the city for the last 13 years have just hatched four chicks. Earlier this year, the Magnetic Hill Zoo and Nature Moncton partnered to set up a livestream on the pair's nesting box, so viewers waited anxiously for about a month, closely watching the eggs. Jill Marvin, the director of the Magnetic Hill Zoo, said she first noticed something unusual when she c

  • 6 Hybrid Vehicles To Stay Away From Buying

    Not all hybrid cars are created equal. While some models offer excellent fuel efficiency, reliability and performance, others fall short. With so many options, it can be tough to separate the good...

  • 75 Endangered and Extremely Rare Snakes Released into Kisatchie National Forest by Fort Worth Zoo

    The Fort Worth Zoo has released a total of 229 Louisiana pine snakes into the wild in recent years

  • One week ago, the northern lights stunned America. When will it happen again?

    Even though experts say conditions are primed for more aurora shows over the next few years, predicting exactly when and where is a challenge.

  • Residents of Canadian oil town menaced by wildfire can return home

    Residents of the Canadian oil town threatened by an out-of-control wildfire can return home, authorities said Saturday, even as they warned the community will have to contend with the blaze for the foreseeable future. Thousands of residents of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta, had been ordered to leave their homes earlier this month. "With the current and forecast weather conditions, specifically the amount of rain that has fallen on the fire, combined with continued fire suppression and community protection efforts, I am pleased to announce it is now safe for us to end the current evacuation and allow people to return to their homes," said Sandy Bowman, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo that includes Fort McMurray.

  • Marbled murrelet sightings from Gabriola becoming more regular for birders

    A kilometre off Gabriola Island’s shore are what look like a couple clothing irons bobbing up and down with the waves – or at least that’s what they remind Vicky Scott of. They’re marbled murrelets, a threatened seabird on Canada’s Pacific coast, and Scott, a birder, has been seeing pairs fishing off Orlebar Point and flying over the island for the past seven years, but recently more often. A bird-watching group led by Scott for Gabriola Land and Trails Trust in early March also had a chance to

  • Warm and muggy tease of summer sparks a storm risk over Ontario

    A tropical humid, muggy airmass moves into southern Ontario over the next 3 days with the threat for non-severe thunderstorms in the forecast. More details with Meteorologist Melinda Singh.

  • More than a thousand fish die in pollution incident

    Hundreds of brown trout are confirmed killed, with anglers fearing salmon were also affected.

  • Bear alert in Japan after man found dead and police officers mauled

    People in northeastern Japan have been warned to stay vigilant after a man was found dead with gash wounds and police officers were left with serious injuries. Two officers were attacked on Saturday in Kazuno city, Akita prefecture, while recovering the missing man's body, Japanese media said. A police helicopter and cars are involved in the search for the bears.

  • Water, water everywhere ... most is now safe to drink in an English village after parasite outbreak

    Most residents living near a scenic fishing village in southwestern England where a parasite in the water sickened more than 45 people were told Saturday that they could safely drink the water again. The water company said it consulted with public health officials before lifting the boil warning for all but about 2,500 customers after rigorous testing showed the water was safe for most of the area.

  • Squirrels caused 80 outages in Toronto last year: hydro officials

    Squirrels caused about 80 power outages in Toronto in 2023 after coming into contact with power equipment, Toronto Hydro said, after a squirrel-related outage in the city Wednesday affected about 6,500 people. Racoons caused 13 outages in 2023, whilst birds caused about 30 outages in the same year, Toronto Hydro said in an email. "While each power outage is unique to its circumstances, outages due to wildlife interference…are resolved on average in under two hours," spokesperson Daniel McNeil sa

  • Severe flooding wreaks havoc across northern Europe

    Severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall has inundated Voeren and Liège in Belgium, as well as parts of France and Germany.View on euronews

  • Eyes on the fries: Alberta snatches potato crown from P.E.I.

    This story is from this week's episode of the new CBC podcast Good Question, P.E.I. Listen here.Good Question, P.E.I. is available on the CBC Listen app, or wherever you get your podcasts.Prince Edward Island no longer produces more potatoes than any other Canadian province.Yes, you read that correctly. We're No. 2. Alberta, the Prairie province known for its thick cuts of red meat, is now the potato king of Canada. But just by a skin.According to the most recent report by Agriculture and Agri-F

  • Plastic pollution is the new front in the culture war

    Last week, Lianne Rood decided to take a stand.Appearing in a video recorded outside a Tim Horton's restaurant in downtown Ottawa, the duly elected Conservative MP for the Ontario riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex announced that she would not be partaking of the iconic chain's coffee unless it discontinued its use of paper lids."I'm done with Tim Hortons until they stop trying to push these woke paper lids that dissolve in your mouth," she wrote in a social media post.The non-plastic lids were pa

  • Fort McMurray evacuees anxious to return home, weather is on their side

    Connor O'Donovan speaks with evacuees in Edmonton and provides an update for when they can likely return to their homes.

  • Botanists are scouring the US-Mexico border to document a forgotten ecosystem split by a giant wall

    JACUMÉ, México (AP) — Near the towering border wall flanked by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, botanist Sula Vanderplank heard a quail in the scrub yelp “chi-ca-go,” a sound the birds use to signal they are separated from a mate or group. Then silence. A quail on the Mexican side called back, triggering a back-and-forth soundtrack that was both fitting and heartbreaking in an ecosystem split by an artificial barrier. Vanderplank was among several botanists and citizen scientists participating in t

  • Heavy rains trigger floods in parts of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands

    Heavy rains caused flooding in parts of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands overnight into Saturday, swamping streets and buildings and sparking evacuations. In the southwestern German state of Saarland, streets were deep underwater and images on social media showed emergency workers carrying local residents to safety in boats. State capital Saarbruecken was hard hit while German daily Bild reported that a breach in a dyke in the town of Quierschied led to a power station in the area being shut