The Pipe Expedition was an ichthyological survey of the Serra do Cachimbo in Brazil. The aim of the expedition was to sample a very species-rich and poorly known ichthyofaunal region in the Neotropics. The Serra do Cachimbo is the highest portion (up to 500 m a.s.l,; Klammer, 1984) of the Brazilian shield in the Amazon region. The headwaters from both middle Xingu basin (Rio Curua) and middle Tapajos (Rio Jamanxim basin and the tributaries of Rio Teles Pires) lie in this region. As noted by Goulding, Barthem & Ferreira (2003), “magnificient waterfalls drop off Serra do Cachimbo tablelands. Small blackwater rivers are found in the sandy parts of the Serra do Cachimbo, but most rivers are crystalline. Fish populations have probably been isolated in the areas above the waterfalls and there are probably many endemic species”. Only two small collections have been previously made in the region, the first in 1956 by Lauro Travassos, whose fishes were studied and four species described by Haroldo Travassos in 1960 and 1964, all of them characids. The second was made by Michael Goulding in 1984, from which another new species of characid was recently described (Lima & Birindelli, 2006). Moreover, the region composed by the headwaters of the Tapajos, Xingu, and Araguaia, mainly in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará, is probably the region of Brazil where the anthropogenic impact is most intense and rapid, mainly due to soy crops and hydroelectric power dams. This region has been enormously altered in the last decade. The threat of species extinction prior to their description due to habitat destruction, makes this expedition a top priority, for conservational purposes.