Reviewing the extinction risk of Microlepidogaster perforata (Siluriformes: Loricariidae: Hypoptopomatinae): how can increased sampling help species conservation?

Abstract

Abstract Microlepidogaster perforata, a threatened species, is currently known from a single site in the Rio Carandaí, MG, upper Rio Paraná, located in a small urban area of the municipality of Carandaí, with clear signs of environmental degradation due to sewage dumping and population growth. Aiming to reverse this situation, the species was included in the “National Action Plan for the Conservation of Endangered Fish Species of the Upper Rio Paraná Basin - PAN Alto Paraná”, coordinated by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). Here, we report the results of an expedition to the Rio Carandaí, which suggest an improvement in the extinction risk from “Critically Endangered” (CR) to “Near Threatened” (NT), based on new records of the species.