Abstract Kryptolebias sepia n. sp. is described from small forest tributaries of the Tapanahony and Palumeu Rivers which form part of the Upper Marowijne River system in southeast of Surinam. This species is distinguished from all other Kryptolebias spp. and Rivulus spp. by strong melanism on the body, its ability to change color pattern rapidly, the lack of strong sexual dimorphism, and the presence of pronounced adult/juvenile dichromatism.

Key words: Rivulus, Kryptolebias, Guyana Shield, mtDNA, speciation, molecular phylogeny, biodiversity

Introduction The fauna and flora of the Guyana shield is particularly rich. While extensive floristic surveys have been undertaken, relatively little work has been conducted on the fish fauna of this region. Most surveys have been done in Venezuela, and Brazilian surveys have concentrated primarily on the middle Rio Negro drainage. The first and last major survey of Guyana was conducted by Eigenmann in 1909 (Eigenmann 1912), and more recently his route has been retraced by researchers focusing on loricariid catfishes (Hardman et al. 2002). A survey of freshwater fishes of French Guiana has also been published (Keith et al. 2000a, b). With the exception of a cichlid survey by Kullander and Nijssen (1989), no systematic ichthyological survey has been done in Surinam. Although these studies concentrated on larger species and not small species inhabiting primary forest streams, they still revealed an incredible diversity of larger and small fish species. Small fish species are an especially interesting component of Guyana shield drainages, in particular those of the

Abstract and excerpt here on Zootaxa. Full article here (subscription required).