“We discovered six new species of really cool catfish from the Amazon and Orinoco River basins,” said Dr De Souza.

“They have tentacles on their snouts, they have spines that stick out from their heads, almost like claws, to protect themselves and their nests, and their body is covered with bony plates like armour.”

“They’re warriors, they’re fish superheroes.”

The fish, which grow up to about 15cm long, use the tentacles on their snouts to gauge the quality of potential mates. If males have impressive tentacles, females will see them as high quality partners.

Dr De Souza and her colleagues documented their discoveries in the journal Zootaxa.