Type locality of Platydoras birindellii, Pará, rio Xingu, Pedra Preta, São Félix do Xingu. It appears to be endemic to the Xingu Basin where it is common in the main channel and its large tributary, the Iriri. It is absent from the lowermost stretch of the Xingu river, the so-called Xingu Ria. Its downstream limit presumably corresponds with the Xingu channel’s departure from the Brazilian Shield near Belo Monte. Populations are expected to decline in the Volta Grande Rapids, the stretch of the rio Xingu inundated or dewatered by the Belo Monte dam complex since it began its operations in 2015. Large populations of this species occur upstream of the impact zone of Belo Monte, in both the Xingu and its tributary the Iriri, but are threatened by unprecedented changes in land use associated with deforestation, farming, ranching and mining (Ref. 122376).