Lacantunia enigmatica shown above.Photo courtesy of John P. Sullivan.

I get interesting emails. Here’s a good one with a new species discovery to share:

I’m a fan of Cryptomundo and also an ichthyologist. I thought I’d point out an article we just published on an enigmatic catfish from Chiapas, Mexico (named Lacantunia enigmatica, appropriately). From DNA analysis we found that this species is apparently a relict of a once much more widespread clade of catfishes (claroteinea) all of which are today exclusively found African. It’s an amazing disjunct distribution for a freshwater clade. The paper, published in the latest Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is available [as the following pdf].John P. Sullivan, Ph.D., Department of Ichthyology, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

Discovery of African roots for the Mesoamerican Chiapas catfish, Lacantunia enigmatica, requires an ancient intercontinental passage