Lepthoplosternum
pectorale (Boulenger, 1895)
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| Image
contributors to this species: |
| Danny
Blundell
(1)
Johnny
Jensen's Photographic Library (2)
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| ScotCat
Sources: |
  
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| Other
Sources: |
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| Relevant
Information: |
Similar looking to Callichthys
callichthys
but is smaller and its body is not as flattened as this species.
Unlike
all other genera of subfamily Callichthyinae, the species of Lepthoplosternum
are absent in the northern portion of the South American continent,
north of the Rio Amazonas. The species are found in the upper Rio
Amazonas in Peru (L. altamazonicum), middle Rio Madeira (L.
beni), Rio Paraguay (L. pectorale), and in the laguna
dos Patos drainage (L. tordilho) in southern Brazil (Roberto
E.Reis).
Aquarium Care: Peacfull species which will do well
in a planted tank with free
swimming place. They can be quite easily housed in your planted
community tank as they don't grow as large as thoracata or
littorale and don't show any aggressive tendencies. Being
from the southern parts of the South American continent it prefers
tempertures to be on the lower side of tropical i.e: under 75°f.
Breeding: This is a bubble-nester, where the female deposits
her eggs in floating plant material or a floating polystyrene lid.
Will attempt to spawn in a community setup, but if they do it would
be a good idea to move the pair to their own breeding tank to make
sure that the spawning is successful, in that the fry will survive
the attentions of the rest of the tank inmates. Males have thicker
pectoral spnes. To read a report on breeding this species you can
go to the breeding article
section for an indepth look at "how to do it".
Diet: As with most "Hoplo's" a good varied diet
of frozen, live and a good quality flake food. It will eat most
things given and of course keeping up the water changes. |
| Common
Name: |
Dwarf
Hoplo |
| Synonyms: |
Hoplosternum
pectorale, Hoplosternum magdalenae, Callichthys pectoralis, Hoplosternum
pectoralis |
| Family: |
Callichthyidaemblycipitidae |
| Distribution: |
South
America: Paraguay River basin. Type locality:
Monte Sociedad, Paraguayan Chaco. |
| Size:
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8.5cm (
3½ins) |
| Temp: |
20-23°C
(67-73°F) |
| p.H. |
6.0 -7.0. |
| Reference: |
Ferraris, C.J.
Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil
(Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary
types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
ScotCat Factsheet no. 30. Dec.
1998. |
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