Issue
There are two species of Piabucina in the region, P. festae and P. panamensis. Graham, Kramer and Pineda (1978) used the two species in their study of the comparative respiration of an air-breathing characoid fish (P. festae) and a non-air-breathing one (P. panamensis). They report that the first species has its gas bladder modified with a specialized region in the posterior chamber while the second has no respiratory specializations. These authors report that the first is found in lowland streams and swamps, while the latter occurs in small, rocky forest streams. P. festae has a stocky body shape with the dark midbody stripe common to most species limited to a narrow dark wedge across the caudal peduncle. Graham, Kramer and Pineda (1978), Eschmeyer, 1998:576.
