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Mastiglanis
asopos Bockmann, 1994
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| |
| Image
contributors to this species: |
| Garold
W. Sneegass
(1) Steven
Grant
(2) |
| ScotCat
Sources: |
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| Other
Sources: |
 
 |
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| Relevant
Information: |
M. asopos is
a strictly sand-dwelling species. It spends the daytime buried
in the top layer of sand and it forages mostly at night and sometimes
in the morning. As an ambush predator, when foraging, it poises
in the streamlet channel where water is flowing, supported by
a tripod formed by its pelvic and anal fins, spreading both its
very long barbels and the filamentous dorsal and pectoral-fin
rays, thus forming a kind of "drift-trap". When the
fish intercepts food, it will lunge at these food particles; after
lunging for a short distance, it will return to its previous hunting
spot. This behavior is similar to that seen in the tripod fish.
Small trichopteran larvae (ingested with the sand cases) and ephemeropterans
constituted a considerable portion of the gut contents in a study
of Mastiglanis asopos, but their foraging behavior allows
a varied diet which includes large chironomid larvae and small
adult beetles that would not be consumed by other sand-dwelling
animals. This fish has long barbels and long first pectoral fin
rays which are used for feeding. It also has an acuminate (tapered
to a point) snout. |
| Common
Name: |
None |
| Synonyms: |
None |
| Family: |
Heptapteridae
lycipitidae |
| Distribution: |
South America:
Amazon, Capim and Orinoco River basins. Type locality:
Brazil, Pará, Igarapé Saracazinho, tributary of
rio
Trombetas, near Porto Trombetas. |
| Size:
|
6.5cm.
(2¾ins) |
| Temp: |
23-25°C
(73-77°F) |
| p.H. |
6.0-7.2. |
| Reference: |
Ferraris, C.J.
Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil
(Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary
types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Zuanon, Jansen; Bockmann, Flávio
A.; Sazima, Ivan (2006). "A remarkable sand-dwelling
fish assemblage from central Amazonia, with comments on the evolution
of psammophily in South American freshwater fishes". Neotropical
Ichthyology 4 (1): 107–118. |
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