Cetopsis
candiru Spix & Agassiz, 1829 |
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| Image
contributors to this species: |
| Chris
Ralph (3) Mark
Sabaj Pérez (1) |
| ScotCat
Sources: |
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| Other
Sources: |
  
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| Relevant
Information: |
Can be distinguished from
all of its congeners by the combination of its relatively shallow
body at the origin of the dorsal fin (0.20 of SL or less versus
0.22 of SL or more, respectively) and the form of the teeth on the
vomer and dentary (incisiform versus conical, respectively). Sexual
dimorphism. The first ray of the dorsal fin of mature males
is prolonged to varying degrees beyond the condition present in
both females and immature males. Mature males also have a moderately-developed,
distal filament on the first pectoral-fin ray, whereas such extensions
of that fin ray are absent in both females and immature males. The
convexity of the anal-fin margin in mature males is distinctly more
pronounced than is the form of the fin margin that characterizes
both females and immature males of the species. Diet:
Cetopsis candiru and C.coecutiens
which achieve the largest
body sizes within the Cetopsinae, are notorious for their voracious
feeding habits; attacking not only carrion, but also live fishes
in gill-nets (Barthem & Goulding, 1997: 44), and on occasion
humans (Goulding, 1989: 185). The predatory and scavenging feeding
habits of these species of Cetopsis perhaps contributed to the erroneous
assumption that members of the Cetopsinae are “parasitic”;
a conclusion that may have lead various previous researchers to
align members of that subfamily with the species of the family Trichomycteridae,
some members of which feed on the blood of their hosts. In contrast
to the voracious feeding habits of Cetopsis candiru and
C. coecutiens, all other members of the subfamily for which
the diet is known prey primarily on allochthonous and aquatic insects. |
| Common
Name: |
None |
| Synonyms: |
Hemicetopsis
candiru, Cetopsis spixii |
| Family: |
Cetopsidaeycipitidae |
| Distribution: |
South
America: Amazon River basin. Type locality:
Brasiliae aequatoralis fluviis. |
| Size:
|
26.5cm.
(10½ins) |
| Temp: |
22-28°c
(71-83°f ) |
| p.H. |
6.0-7.0. |
| Reference: |
Vari, R.P., C.J.
Ferraris, Jr. and M.C.C. de Pinna 2005 The neotropical
whale catfishes (Siluriformes: Cetopsidae: Cetopsinae), a revisionary
study. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 3(2):127-238.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes,
recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of
siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628. |
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Family:
Cetopsidae
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| Click
on thumbnails |
Cetopsis candiru
|
 Cetopsis
candiru
Close up of head
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 Cetopsis
candiru
Close up of head
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 Cetopsis
candiru
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