Henry William Gallo Martinez

Delighted to share the discovery and description of the first scale-feeding candiru from west of the Andes Mountains. The new genus and species Arhinoglanis relictus is a miniature, paedomorphic species endemic to the upper Cauca River basin in Colombia.

A copepod parasite on the outside of a fish, an ectoparasite, has attached and used its mouth part to pierce the outer wall of the fish. That mouth part then wraps around the internal organs of the fish, piercing the digestive tract - feeding on whatever the fish has fed on.