A new species of Laetacara from the northern Brazil coastal floodplains (Teleostei: Cichlidae)

Abstract

Laetacara flamannellus sp. n. is described from the northern Brazilian coastal floodplains. It differs from all its congeners by a combination of character states: presence of a dark brown or black spot located on dorsal-fin base; presence of a yellow stripe on the middle portion of the dorsal fin, crossing the whole fin; presence of an orange ring around the dorsal-fin base spot; absence of a red pigmentation on belly; absence of a red or purple zone on the anal-fin base; absence of a red zone on the caudal-fin base; cycloid scales on the opercle plate; and trunk scales above upper lateral line with few ctenii. The presence of a deep notch in the dorsal margin of the anterior ceratohyal, often used as diagnostic for Laetacara, is confirmed here for L. flamannellus.