Taxonomy & naming
Neoplecostomus sapucai was described in 2024 by Andrade, Uzeda, Paiola, Siqueira-Cesar, Okubo, Marques-Frisoni, and Langeani, published in Neotropical Ichthyology (volume 22, number 4). The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) is the authority for valid names in Loricariidae; as a 2024 description, N. sapucai is a recently validated species with no prior synonyms.
The genus Neoplecostomus is a south-eastern Brazilian neoplecostomid loricariid genus containing approximately a dozen species, all restricted to clear, high-gradient streams in the Paraná basin and coastal drainages of south-eastern Brazil. FishBase places Neoplecostomus in Hypoptopomatinae; the present site follows that convention for this genus. The genus is characterised by its rheophilic body plan, suctorial mouth, and adaptations to fast-flowing shallow water.
The type locality is an unnamed stream on Highway AMG-1915 between Piquete and Delfim Moreira, in the Rio Sapucaí drainage, Rio Grande basin, Delfim Moreira municipality, Minas Gerais, Brazil (22°32'31.3"S, 45°14'28.8"W), at an elevation of 1,1086 ft. The specific epithet sapucai references the Rio Sapucaí, the drainage within which the type locality is situated. The genus name Neoplecostomus combines the Greek neos (new) and plekos (twisted or plaited), applied to this 'new' relative of Plecostomus-grade catfishes.
Morphology
Neoplecostomus sapucai reaches a maximum recorded standard length of 3.5 in SL. The body is the typical neoplecostomid form: elongate, moderately depressed, and encased in rows of odontode-bearing bony scutes. The head is broad, the snout rounded, and the mouth is positioned ventrally for grazing rock surfaces.
Sexual dimorphism has been characterised in the original description, with differences centred on dentition. Females bear 24–33 premaxillary teeth (modal count 26) and 22–31 dentary teeth (modal count 26). Males have more robust and fewer teeth than females — an unusual locus for dimorphism in loricariids, where secondary sexual characters are more commonly expressed as odontodes, papilla shape, or fin-ray morphology. Whether males also show the odontode development typical of other neoplecostomids during the breeding season is not specified in available information.
The species' microhabitat preference for streams with less than 3 ft depth, rapid flow, and crystal-clear water over pebble and cobble substrate is reflected in its body plan: the low profile reduces drag in current, and the suctorial mouth allows firm attachment to cobble surfaces while feeding.
Habitat
Neoplecostomus sapucai is known from the type locality at 1,1086 ft elevation in the Serra da Mantiqueira foothills, within the Rio Sapucaí drainage, which is part of the Rio Grande basin and thus the upper Paraná system. The original description characterises the occupied streams as having low depth (less than 3 ft), rapid flow, and crystal-clear water over pebble and cobble substrates.
The Serra da Mantiqueira is a highland massif stretching across south-eastern Brazil between Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo states. Streams originating in this range are typically cold relative to lowland Brazilian rivers, oligotrophic, well-oxygenated, and subject to a pronounced wet–dry seasonal cycle. The crystal-clear condition of the occupied streams indicates low suspended sediment and suggests good watershed integrity — a condition that may be locally compromised by road construction and pastoral agriculture in the region.
At 1,1086 ft, temperatures in these streams are likely significantly cooler than in lowland Paraná tributaries, though published physico-chemical measurements for the type locality are not available in current literature.
Feeding
Neoplecostomus sapucai is a rheophilic aufwuchs grazer. Its suctorial mouth, flattened body, and microhabitat association with pebble and cobble in fast-moving shallow streams indicate a feeding strategy centred on scraping periphyton — epilithic algae (diatoms, chlorophytes, and cyanobacteria), fungal biofilm, and associated fine detritus — from rock surfaces.
In clear, sunlit upland streams at moderate to high elevations, epilithic algae form dense biofilms over cobble and bedrock in areas of adequate current, making such substrates the most productive foraging habitat for grazers with this oral morphology. No specific dietary studies have been published for N. sapucai.
Mating
Reproductive behaviour in Neoplecostomus sapucai has not been described. Within Neoplecostomus and neoplecostomid loricariids broadly, males are generally presumed to compete for territories or spawning positions, following the widespread loricariid pattern. The Rocky upland stream habitat provides an abundance of potential spawning microhabitats beneath cobbles and in rock crevices.
The unusual location of sexual dimorphism in dentition — males with more robust but fewer teeth — is not fully explained in available information. Whether this reflects dietary differences between the sexes, a role in courtship behaviour, or some other function is unknown.
Breeding
No breeding data are available for Neoplecostomus sapucai, either from field study or captive observation. The species was described in 2024 and has no presence in the aquarium hobby. Extrapolating from the broader neoplecostomid literature, benthic spawning in sheltered rocky microhabitats with some degree of paternal egg-guarding would be a reasonable working hypothesis, but this remains entirely undocumented for the species.
In the aquarium
Neoplecostomus sapucai is not present in the aquarium trade and is not expected to become available in the near term. Described only in 2024, with a type locality on a minor unnamed stream at high elevation in Minas Gerais, it has no history in hobbyist collections.
For any future institutional or conservation husbandry, the key requirements would be replication of clear, well-oxygenated, fast-moving water at the cooler temperatures consistent with its high-elevation origin in the Serra da Mantiqueira (likely below 72 °F, though published field temperature measurements are not available), over cobble or pebble substrate supporting algal growth. As with other rheophilic loricariids, strong flow and excellent water quality would be prerequisites; stagnant or warm conditions would be wholly inappropriate.
The honest answer for hobbyists is that this species is not available, and details sufficient to guide its aquarium care reliably have not yet been published.
Conservation
Neoplecostomus sapucai has not been assessed by the IUCN; the species was described in 2024 and is too recently named to have undergone formal conservation evaluation. Its status is therefore Not Evaluated (NE).
From a precautionary standpoint, the species' characteristics give grounds for concern. It is known only from a single type locality — an unnamed stream at high elevation in the Rio Sapucaí drainage of Minas Gerais. High-elevation rheophilic specialists with small known ranges are often intrinsically vulnerable: they cannot simply move downstream if their habitat degrades, and the Serra da Mantiqueira foothills are subject to ongoing land-use change including road construction, pasture expansion, and eucalyptus plantations that alter hydrology and increase sedimentation.
Formal IUCN assessment and additional field surveys to establish the true range of the species are the most pressing conservation needs. If N. sapucai proves to be genuinely restricted to a small number of sites in the Sapucaí headwaters, it may qualify for a threatened category upon assessment.