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Nathan Lujan (3)

Chaetostoma breve was described from the Zamora-Santiago river drainage in Ecuador by Regan in 1904, and redescribed by Nathan Lujan and colleagues in 2015. Due to the latest paper by Meza-Vargas V, Ramirez JL, Lujan NK (2024) C. breve is now considered to be a synonym of C. branickii. Description: Chaetostoma branickii has highly variable head and body colouration, but is distinguished by its compact, robust head and body shape, distally curved curved cheek odontodes, and the absence of distinct spots. 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. The Chaetostoma species are not the easiest to maintain as the mountain stream species will need a water current to provide oxygen-rich water. Sexual Differences: Males have better colour, a broader head and lips and adult males possess longer ventral fins than the females. Etymology: The specific name branickii: Patronym not identified, probably in honour of Hieronim Florian Radziwill Konstanty, Count Branicki (1823–1884), Polish nobleman who employed ornithologist Jan Stolzmann (also spelled Sztolcman, 1854-1928), who collected holotype. Remarks: This species has a restricted range (its extent of occurrence (EOO) is approximately 20,000 km²), only occurs in three locations, and is affected by large-scale mining activities that reduce water quality, as well as fishing with natural toxic chemicals. It may also be affected by the construction of a large dam in the future. Hence it is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN 2016).

None

Chaetostomus brevis, Chaetostoma breve

Loricariidae

South America: Upper Chamaya River basin in upper Marañon River drainage, Peru. Type locality: Callacate [Peru]. Cajamarca: Rio Chota (= rio Chotano), alt. ca. 1465–1585 m., ca. 12 km from Cutervo N of Chota; 06º25'S / 78º56'W.

13.0cm. (5¼ins)

20-22°c (67-71°f.)

6.0-7.5.

Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fisch-Muller, S., 2003. Loricariidae-Ancistrinae (Armored catfishes). p. 373-400. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, (11/2018).
Lujan, Nathan. Facebook post and information 2018.
Meza-Vargas V, Ramirez JL, Lujan NK (2024) The ornate rubbernose pleco (Siluriformes, Loricariidae, Chaetostoma), a new species from the Ucayali River Basin, Peru. Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(4): 1387-1400.
Ortega Torres, H., Valenzuela Mendoza, L., Espino Ciudad, J., Chocano, L., Velasquez, M. & Hidalgo del Aguila, M. 2016. Chaetostoma branickii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.
Seidel, I. 2008. Back to Nature guide to L-catfishes, Ettlingen, Germany 208 p.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.