Cyphocharax pinnilepis, a species of curimatid characiform apparently endemic to the Rio de Contas system in Bahia, Brazil, is described as new. It is only the sixth member of the Curimatidae known from the coastal rivers of Brazil across the expanse from south of the mouth of the Amazon River to the state of São Paulo, but the third curimatid species from the Rio de Contas. The basis for the assignment of the species to Cyphocharax is discussed, and it is diagnosed from congeners on details of pigmentation, the pattern of scales on the lobes of the caudal fin, meristics, and morphometrics.