A new species of Characidae, Moenkhausia celibela, is described from the Rio Amazonas at Santarém, Rio Maraú, several localities in the Rio Tapajós, Rio Curuá-Una, Rio Xingu and Rio Jari, all from the Amazon basin, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners, except species included in Géry's 1992 Moenkhausia lepidura group, by presenting a dark blotch on the upper caudal-fin lobe, and the lower lobe is hyaline or light grey. Moenkhausia celibela is distinguished from the species of the M. lepidura group by the absence of a humeral spot and the presence of a roughly triangular and dark spot at the caudal-fin base, extending posteriorly along the middle caudal-fin rays, and distinctly separate from the spot on the upper caudal-fin lobe.
© 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.