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Leandro Sousa (1)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6; Anal soft rays: 19 - 22; Vertebrae: 41. Diagnosed from Trachycorystes trachycorystes by having the following characters: jaws equal in length (vs. lower jaw longer, prognathous in Trachycorystes trachycorystes); skull roof covered by thick integument concealing bony sculptures (vs. skull roof covered by thin integument, bony sculptures visible); inner mental barbel thin and very short, not reaching base of outer mental barbel (vs. inner mental barbel thicker, extending to or beyond base of outer mental barbel); dorsal-fin spine serrated only along posterior margin (vs. dorsal-fin spine serrated only along anterior margin); caudal fin weakly forked (vs. emarginate); gas bladder simple, without diverticula (vs. gas bladder with three posterior diverticula, one medial and paired posterolateral). Habitat: Found in abundance in tributaries of the Rio Aripuanã, such as igarapé do Aeroporto and igarapé Genipapo, clear water creeks two or three m wide and up to 0.6 m deep, with forested margins and sandy bottoms where fallen trunks, branches and vegetal detritus were abundant. Collected using deep nets and by displacing the submerged debris, the natural hiding-places of the species. Aquarium Care: Not to be trusted when growing into adulthood as it will quickly kill any smaller inhabitants of the tank. May be able to keep with large Cichlids but basically a fish to keep on its own. Sexual Differences: Adult males possess a thickening of their anal fins akin to the anal fins of the males of the Goodiae family of livebearers. The females genital pore is enlarged and recessed into her abdomen. Diet: A predator but will accept worm foods, frozen shrimp and bloodworm, chunks of frozen fish, tablet and pellet foods. In the wild it will feed on fish, various insects as well as scorpion and crustaceans. Etymology: The genus name Trachycorystes: tautonymous with Auchenipterus trachycorystes, trachys, rough; corystes, helmeted, referring to rugose cranial shield. The specific name, menezesi, is in honour of Dr. Rui Simões de Menezes, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil, in recognition to his studies of the life history of freshwater fishes of northeastern Brazil.

None

Auchenipterus trachycorystes, Trachycorystes typus

Auchenipteridae

South America: Rio Aripuanã drainage, Mato Grosso State, Brazil.

20.0cm. (8ins)

23-27°c (73-81°f.)

6.5-7.0.

Britski, H.A. and A. Akama, 2011. New species of Trachycorystes Bleeker, with comments on other species of the genus (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae). Neotrop. Ichthyol. 9(2):273-279.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2026. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 02/2026 ).
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio). 2022. Trachycorystes menezesi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.