Hatcheria macraei ( Girard , 1855 ) ( Siluriformes , Trichomycteridae ) : new record from northwestern Argentina

The geographic distribution of Hatcheria macraei (Girard 1855), the Patagonian Catfish, is herein extended north of the Río Colorado headwaters, the previous northernmost record for the species. H. macraei is registered from the Río Jagüé, in the headwaters of the Río Desaguadero basin (Northwestern Argentina). Morphometric and meristic data of collected specimens are included.

The Trichomycterin Patagonian Catfish, Hatcheria, with its single species, Hatcheria macraei (Girard, 1855), presents a wide distribution in southern South America, ranging from the western slope of the Andes in Chile to the Atlantic drainages in Argentina (Unmack et al. 2009(Unmack et al. , 2011)).According to Unmack et al. (2011), the northernmost populations of H. macraei, both in Argentina and Chile, were found at 31° S, and the southern most populations at 49° S and 47° S in Argentina and Chile, respectively (see Table 1 in Unmack et al. 2011).Herein, we report an expansion on the distribution of H. macraei (Figure 1), with a new record for the species from the Río Jagüé (28°46ʹ S, 068°09ʹ W; Quebrada La Troya, Departamento Vinchina, Provincia de La Rioja) at 1.475 m above sea level (Figure 2).
Ten specimens of H. macraei were caught at a section of the Río Jagüé with approximately 0.3 to 0.7 m deep and 2.0 to 5.0 m wide, running over a cobble and sand bottom (Figure 3).Morphometric data is presented in Table 1.The specimens were identified based on the following characteristics: elongated body, reaching maximum 210 mm in total length, with narrow and laterally compressed caudal peduncle; dorsal-fin origin behind middle of total length; anal fin placed under posterior part of dorsal-fin; pectoral-fin with small filament; long dorsal fin with distal margin concave, and 15 to 20 principal dorsal-fin rays; long supraorbital tendon-bone; more than 16 pairs of ribs; anus placed between pelvicfin distal margins; caudal fin slightly emarginated; more than 32 caudal-fin rays, with 6+7 principal caudal rays and two segmented and non-branched caudal rays in both lobes; upper hypurals 3, 4, and 5 fused (Arratia andMenu-Marque 1981, Arratia 1990).Additional characters include: supraorbital canal continuous and narrow with pore s3 absent, laterosensory canal of trunk with 4 to 6 pores anteriorly, dorsal-fin supported internally by 12 or more pterygiophores, premaxilla rectangular, and autopalatine elongated and thin (LF pers.obs.).
H. macraei is a macroinvertivore and nocturnal

NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
Fernández and Bize | Hatcheria macraei in northwestern of Argentina species, that hides during the day in rocky caves, or buried in the sand, and become more active at evening time or at night (Arratia and Menu-Marque 1981, LF pers. obs.).The variation in the pigmentation pattern of H. macraei could be correlated with the variable substrate of its habitat (Arratia 1983;Arratia et al. 1978; Arratia and Menu-Marque 1981: Figure 10A-C).
The Río Jagüé is part of the headwaters of the Desaguadero basin (Figure 2) and flows to the southern receiving different names Río Vinchina or Río Bermejo,   which develops into a wetland, the Lagunas de Guanacache or Huanacache, currently almost dried out.The wetlands of the Río Jagüé were connected to the Río Colorado (Figure 2) in historical times, however, since the early 1900s, the Desaguadero basin has been so heavily tapped for agriculture, industry, and municipal uses along its course (1.515 km) that rarely reaches the Río Colorado.Nowadays the Desaguadero basin, composed among others by the Río Jagüé, became technically an endorheic system.The possibility of dispersal of H. macraei in the past between the Colorado and Desaguadero rivers is consistent with the widespread occurrence of H. macraei, in both headwater and lowland habitats.This suggests that the species could have taken advantage of opportunities to move between river basins, either at the headwaters or river termini (Unmack et al. 2011).Trichomycterid catfishes, which include about 200 species classified in eight families (Van Der Laan et al. 2014), seem well adapted to high elevation wetlands, temporary endorheic or poorly drained basins, and occasional permanent watercourses fed by snow melt Fernández and Bize | Hatcheria macraei in northwestern of Argentina of higher elevations, all characteristics that fit the headwaters region of the Río Desaguadero (Fernandez andVari 2004, 2009).The only native fishes known for this region are species of Trichomycterinae (Hatcheria macraei, Trichomycterus alterus, T. corduvensis, T. heterodontus, T. hualco, T. pseudosilvinichthys, T. riojanus, and Silvinichthys sp.).However, no other species of Hatcheria were collected in Río Jagüé.
Thus, H. macraei is herein recorded from the Río Jagüé (Figure 2), north of the Río Colorado headwaters, the previous northernmost record for the species (Ringuelet et al. 1967;Arratia et al. 1983;Unmack et al. 2009).The new record would be consistent with reports for northern La Rioja by Ringuelet et al. (1967 28557 (holotype).Measurements to the nearest 0.01 mm were made using a digital caliper following Tchernavin (1944) and Fernandez and Vari (2012).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was in partially supported by the re search project PIP (Proyecto Investigación Plurianual, CONICET) #11420090100321.We thank M. Loeb who kindly revised our manuscript and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable suggestions of the manuscript.
Arratia et al. (1983:a") andArratia et al. (1983:"Río Grande, La Rioja"), who mentioned the presence of the species but did not provide specific locality data that would allow us to confirm those records.