Taxonomy & naming
Pyrrhulina punctata was described in 2026 by Aléssio Netto-Ferreira, Luz Vieira, Thiago Souza, Marcos Ruiz-Tafur and Jonathan Garcia-Ayala in the Journal of Fish Biology, based on both morphological and molecular (DNA barcoding) evidence. The holotype, CIIAP 3919, is 2.04 in standard length, collected from Quebrada Brashico, Río Tigre, Loreto, Peru. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes lists Pyrrhulina punctata Netto-Ferreira, Vieira, Souza, Ruiz-Tafur & Garcia-Ayala, 2026 as the valid name, in family Lebiasinidae, subfamily Pyrrhulininae, and records the IUCN status as Not Assessed as of 2026.
The species had been informally recognised as distinct well before its formal description: Marilyn Weitzman documented in her own notes that she first received specimens from Peruvian collector Julio Melgar in January 2001, noting a black midlateral stripe broken into a variable number of spots — more numerous than in the similar Pyrrhulina spilota, described by her husband Stanley Weitzman in 1960 from the same general region. The species subsequently appeared in a 2020 regional survey (Romayna Rios) under the provisional name 'Pyrrhulina sp. mojarrita.' Molecular analysis in the formal description confirms P. punctata as the sister species of P. spilota, with a genetic distance of 5.4% at the COI barcode, and the study additionally shows that Bolivian and Brazilian records of P. spilota from the Beni, Mamoré and Madeira systems were misidentifications of the separate species Pyrrhulina vittata, which is common in that basin instead.
Morphology
Pyrrhulina punctata reaches at least 2.31 in standard length among the paratype series, larger than the 2.04 in SL holotype. Like its close relatives P. spilota and P. vittata, it carries a series of irregular dark blotches along the flanks rather than the plain silvery colouration or simple longitudinal stripe typical of most other Pyrrhulina, but it is distinguished from both by having far more blotches — 7 to 16, usually just one scale wide, versus only 2 to 5 larger blotches in P. spilota and P. vittata. It differs further from P. vittata in having more lateral-line scales (26–28 versus 20–23) and substantially more teeth (17–21 maxillary, 23–25 outer premaxillary, 40–41 inner premaxillary and 23 outer dentary teeth, versus far fewer in P. vittata), distinctly elongated dorsal-, pelvic- and anal-fin rays in adult males, and a second dark blotch at the distal tip of the longest dorsal-fin rays.
In preserved specimens the background colour is yellowish, with a heavily pigmented primary stripe running from the head through the eye to the pectoral girdle. The flank blotches increase in number and coalesce with growth: juveniles under 1.12 in SL show the fewest, blotches increase from about 1.36 in SL, and by roughly 1.59 in SL they merge into an irregular pigmented band along the mid-lower flank — a pattern the authors note remains conspicuous in adults, unlike in P. spilota, where the blotches become comparatively faint with age.
Habitat
Pyrrhulina punctata is currently known only from the Río Tigre and its tributaries — Quebrada Brashico, Playa Mabumdi, Quebrada Monterriguillo and Quebrada Boca Alemán — a drainage of the Río Marañón in Loreto, Peru. The describing authors characterise the species' habitat as well-preserved tropical forest streams with sandy bottoms and slow current speeds. Every known collection site lies within the boundaries of the Pucacuro National Reserve (Área Natural Protegida / Reserva Nacional Pucacuro), an area recognised for its exceptional species richness and endemism.
Feeding
No stomach-content or dietary study was reported for Pyrrhulina punctata. As a genus-level generality, Pyrrhulina species are small-mouthed micropredators feeding on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates and other small food items taken from the water surface and column, but this has not been directly documented for this species.
Mating
No courtship observations were reported for Pyrrhulina punctata specifically, but the species shares the sexual dimorphism typical of Lebiasinidae: adult males have distinctly thicker, longer anal-fin rays and interradial membranes than females, producing a visibly broader anal fin, as well as elongated dorsal- and pelvic-fin rays and dark pigmented bands along the distal margins of the pectoral, dorsal, anal and pelvic fins. As a genus-level generality — confirmed for several other Pyrrhulina in this atlas but not documented specifically for P. punctata — males establish and defend small spawning territories centred on a broad leaf or flat surface, courting females that then deposit adhesive eggs directly onto the chosen site.
Breeding
No wild or captive breeding observations were published for Pyrrhulina punctata in its formal description. As a genus-level generality documented for related Pyrrhulina, the species can be expected to be a substrate spawner with short-term paternal care: the male alone guards and fans the adhesive egg clutch until hatching, after which parental care ends once the fry become free-swimming. This inference follows the pattern established for congeners such as P. vittata and P. spilota and has not been confirmed by direct observation of P. punctata.
In the aquarium
Pyrrhulina punctata has been present in the aquarium hobby, at least informally, for over two decades — specimens reached collectors as early as January 2001 and the species has circulated since under provisional names such as 'Pyrrhulina sp. mojarrita,' distinguished by hobbyists from the similar P. spilota by its heavier spotting. The original description itself includes a photograph of an uncatalogued aquarium specimen. No detailed, species-specific husbandry account has been published, but the genus generally does well in a well-planted aquarium with soft, slightly acidic water reflecting its native slow-flowing, sandy-bottomed forest streams, kept with broad-leaved plants or flat surfaces available as potential spawning sites.
Conservation
Pyrrhulina punctata has not been formally assessed by the IUCN Red List; its status is Not Evaluated (NE), a status that the Catalog of Fishes explicitly records as of 2026. The describing authors recommend a status of Least Concern, noting that although the species is not frequently or abundantly collected, all known localities lie within the Pucacuro National Reserve, a protected area recognised for its high species richness and endemism, and the surrounding tropical forest habitat remains well preserved.