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Chaetostoma bifurcum Lujan, Meza-Vargas, Astudillo-Clavijo, Barriga-Salazar & López-Fernández 2015

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Relevant Information:

This species was previously identified as Chaetostoma fischeri or C. microps in western Ecuador but Lujan et al. (2015c) indicate that C. fishcheri occurs in Panama and not Ecuador and C. microps is restricted to drainages in eastern Ecuador. Description: Chaetostoma bifurcum is distinguished from all congeners along along the Pacific Coast of South America except C. palmeri and C. paucispinis by having only 1 or 2 evertible cheek odontodes (vs. 3-6); from C. niveum, C. palmeri, C. patiae, and C. paucispinis by having most frequently 4 branched rays on anal fin (vs. 5); from C. palmeri and C. paucispinis by having body with black, indistinct, vertically elongate, irregularly broken or complete bars K to O width of orbit in living adults (vs. body uniform or with transverse cross-bars wider than two times orbit centered on dorsal midline); and from C. paucispinis by having 8 branched rays on dorsal fin. Habitat: Found in piedmont elevations approximately 100 to 650 above sea level. Aquarium Care: Will need a good water flow in the aquarium with a sand substrate and plenty of hiding places. Diet: Great algae eater, but you will have to subsidise this food with algae wafers and vegetable foods such as cucumber, zucchini and lettuce. Will also except tablet and worm foods. Sexual Differences: Males have better colour, a broader head and lips and adult males possess longer ventral fins than the females. Remarks: As the thumbnail images show, this species has a variation in colour markings between individuals.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Loricariidae

Distribution:

South America: Pacific Coast drainages of western Ecuador and northwestern Peru, including (from north to south) the Esmeraldas, Guayas, Santa Rosa, and Tumbes river drainages.

Size:

14.0cm (5½inch)

Temp:

23-27°c (73-81°f.)

p.H.

6.5-7.5.

Reference:

Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2021. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 05/2021 ).
Lujan, N.K., V. Meza-Vargas, V. Astudillo-Clavijo, R. Barriga-Salazar and H. López-Fernández, 2015. A multilocus molecular phylogeny for Chaetostoma Clade genera and species with a review of Chaetostoma (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Central Andes. Copeia 103(3):664-701.
Windsor, Aquirre. Freshwater Fishes of Western Ecuador. 05/2021.

Family: Loricariidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Chaetostoma bifurcum

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