The Curuá River is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Iriri River The Iriri River ( ; ) is a large tributary of the Xingu River in Brazil, in the state of Pará. It is long making it the 116th longest river in the world (with Krishna River, India) and the 15th longest in the Amazon basin. The headwaters are th ...

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

state in north-central

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 ...

. The river flows through the Tapajós-Xingu moist forests ecoregion. The river rises in the

Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve The Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve () is a biological reserve in the state of Pará, Brazil. The reserve protects an area in the transition between the Cerrado and Amazon biomes, supporting highly diverse flora and fauna includ ...

, a strictly protected conservation unit established in 2005. It is one of the headwaters of the

Xingu River The Xingu River ( ; ; ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water. __TOC__ Description and history The fir ...

. The upper part and the lower part of the Curuá River are divided by two waterfalls, only apart. The first waterfall is tall and the second is tall.Netto-Ferreira, A.L. (2012)
Three new species of Lebiasina (Characiformes: Lebiasinidae) from the Brazilian Shield border at Serra do Cachimbo, Pará, Brazil.
Neotropical Ichthyology 10(3): 487-498. As a consequence, the fauna in the upper part, above the waterfalls on the

Serra do Cachimbo Serra do Cachimbo () is a low mountain range in the southern part of the state of Pará, Brazil. It is located mostly in the municipalities of Altamira, Brazil, Altamira, Itaituba, Brazil, Itaituba, Jacareacanga, and Novo Progresso. The Serra do ...

plateau, is highly distinct and includes several

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

fish: three '' Lebiasina'' species, '' Brachychalcinus reisi'', '' Erythrocharax altipinnis'', '' Jupiaba kurua'', '' Knodus nuptialis'', ''

Moenkhausia ''Moenkhausia'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Characidae native to tropical and subtropical South America. These are medium-sized tetras where the largest species only reach around . Species There are currently 8 ...

petymbuaba'', ''

Leporinus ''Leporinus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Anostomidae native to South America. The fossil species ''Leporinus scalabrinii'', known from the late Miocene of Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos in Argentina, has only recently b ...

guttatus'', three ''

Harttia ''Harttia'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to South America. Etymology The genus name comes from Charles Frederick Hartt (1840–1878), a geologist, paleontologist and naturalist, who collected the many specimens during the Thayer Exp ...

'' species, three ''

Apistogramma ''Apistogramma'' is a large genus of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Cichlidae native to South America, but also commonly kept in Freshwater aquarium, aquariums. They are dwarf cichlids that mostly feed on tiny animals and have b ...

'' species (including ''A. kullanderi'', the largest in the genus), and others. These are to some extent protected by the reserve, but habitat loss continues and the proposed building of dams, which would remove the waterfalls that isolate the endemics from more widespread species in the lower part, potentially represents a serious threat.Menezes, N.A., and M.M.F. Marinho (2019). A New Species of Knodus Eigenmann (Characiformes: Characidae: Stevardiinae) with Comments on Nuptial Tubercles and Gill Gland in Characiform Fishes. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0217915. Varella, H.R.; and R. Britzke (2016). Apistogramma eleutheria and A. flavipedunculata, two new species of dwarf cichlids from the rio Curuá on Serra do Cachimbo, Brazil (Teleostei: Cichlidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 27(1): 81-95.

References

Rivers of Pará {{Pará-river-stub

See also

References