''Colomesus tocantinensis'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of pufferfish in the family
Tetraodontidae
Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, ...
. It is endemic to
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, where it inhabits the
Tocantins River
The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...
basin. It reaches a length of 3.5 cm (1.4 inches) SL. The species was described in 2013 by Cesar R. L. Amaral, Paulo M. Brito, Dayse A. Silva, and Elizeu F. Carvalho based on morphology and genetic evidence, both of which separate it from its congeners ''
Colomesus asellus
''Colomesus asellus'', the Amazon puffer, asellus puffer, South American freshwater puffer, Peruvian puffer, or Brazilian puffer is a species of pufferfish confined to the Amazon Basin, Amazon, Essequibo River, Essequibo and Orinoco basins in tro ...
'' and ''
C. psittacus''.
[Amaral, Cesar R L et al. “A new cryptic species of South American freshwater pufferfish of the genus Colomesus (Tetraodontidae), based on both morphology and DNA data.” ''PLOS ONE'' vol. 8,9 e74397. 11 Sep. 2013, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074397]
References
Tetraodontidae
Fish described in 2013
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Endemic fish of Brazil
Fish of the Tocantins River basin
{{Tetraodontiformes-stub