Macrobrachium santanderensis, new species of freshwater prawn (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) from the northeastern Andes mountains of Colombia

There is only one species of freshwater prawn documented for the Catatumbo region, which is part of the northeastern Andes mountains of Colombia. Morphology comparison with other Colombian Macrobrachium species which inhabit the nearby Orinoco river basin such as M. brasiliense, M. cortezi, M. heterochirus, and M. reyesi, and the only species reported for the Catatumbo region (M. praecox) reveals distinct characters of a new freshwater prawn species. The differences between the new species described herein and the previously reported Macrobrachium species are in the ornamentation of the rostrum and the second pair of pereiopods, proportion of some segments of the second periopod, as well as size and number of eggs. The new freshwater prawn species (Macrobrachium santanderensis) is reported, described, and illustrated.