The recently resurrected callichthyid catfish genus Scleromystax includes species occurring in several Brazilian coastal river basins from southern Bahia to southern Santa Catarina. Several character states, especially those related to sexual dimorphism, demonstrate the monophyly of Scleromystax. Examination of Scleromystax specimens sampled from streams in the Ilha de Santa Catarina and Nova Veneza, and the rio Mampituba basin, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul States, revealed that they constitute a new taxon, and thus the southernmost record for the genus. Scleromystax salmacis, new species, has coloration similar to that of S. macropterus, differing from that species mainly by the absence of a black spot on the base of the median caudal-fin rays, and transverse blotches along the body more irregular than those in S. macropterus. In addition to differences in coloration and external and osteological characters, the new species differs from S. barbatus and S. prionotos by its more rounded snout. The new taxon is also distinguished from its congeners by the presence of a single perforated dorsolateral body plate, similar to the condition found in some Aspidoras species, orientation of the ventral keel of the scapulocoracoid, and by the absence of sexually dimorphic features.
Taxonomy; Systematics; Corydoradinae; Catfish
