Craterocephalus pimatuae
Pima Hardyhead
Species Summary
Known from a single collection in the upper Pima River, Papua New Guinea, Craterocephalus pimatuae is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List — there simply isn’t enough information yet to assess its conservation status with confidence.
Etymology
The species name refers to the junction of the Pima and Tua Rivers in Papua New Guinea, its type locality.
Etymology compiled from C. Scharpf (2020), “Fishes of Sahul: An Etymological Survey (Part 3)”, Fishes of Sahul 34(2): 1568–1582, and etyfish.org.
Remarks
The type series was collected almost by accident. During a 1980 helicopter survey aiming for Lake Tebera to collect what would become the Lake Tebera Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia pimaensis), Gerald Allen’s team was grounded by fog at the junction of the Pima and Tua Rivers, and used the delay to sample the local waters — turning up both the rainbowfish’s namesake location and this hardyhead in the same stroke of enforced patience.
Compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from ANGFA sources: G. R. Allen, “Collecting the Lake Tebera Rainbowfish”, Fishes of Sahul 36(1), March 2022, pp. 1824–1827.