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Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 4. This species is distinguished by the following characters: teeth bifid teeth (vs. spoon-shaped); dark spots on a light background (vs light spots on a dark background or not spotted); 4 rough lateral ridges on flanks (vs. absent); 26-29 lateral series plates (vs. < 28 in several species, 31-32 in H. laplatae); 1-2 plates bordering posterior margin of the supraoccipital bone (vs. 3-4 in H. laplatae); differs from H. affinis, H. punctatus, H. ancistroides by having inter-dorsal distance 14.4-19.5% in SL (vs. 18.9-21.0%); head depth 49.0-71.6% in HL (vs. 48.2-49.9); differs from H. spiniger by having fine lateral ridges with odontodes posteriorly inclined (vs. large lateral ridges with odontodes in all directions), weak lateral ridges in caudal peduncle (vs. strong), mid lateral ridge from first plate (vs. ridge from 2nd or 3rd plates); adult of this species (> 12.0 cm SL) can be distinguished from adult H. spiniger by having a strong ridge on temporal plate (vs. very week). The Hypostomus genus has 7 rays to the dorsal fin whereas the similar looking Pterygoplichthys species have 10 dorsal fin rays. Habitat: This species is quite abundant in the La Plata region in the estuarine waters and in the arroyos and laguna's. Occurs in rivers where substrate from which specimens were obtained was composed chiefly of muddy sand. This species was found in moderately oxygenated waters (6.1-9.1 mg/l) with moderate current; water turbidity 23.7-442 NTU, conductivity 1.087-2.654 ?S/cm, pH 7.2-9.2, and temperature 16.8-27.8°C. (Cardoso, Y. P. et. al. 2019). Reproduction: Spawns between November and February in the ponds and small lagoons. The youngsters feed on the organic material found on the muddy bottom. Aquarium Care: As with most of this genus, will do well in a larger aquarium which is well filtered. Water parameters can be quite diverse for this genera. Diet: Omnivore with a liking for green, tablet and frozen foods.

None

Hypostomus limosus, Hypostomus spiniger, Plecostomus commersoni, Plecostomus limosus, Plecostomus spiniger.

Loricariidae

South America: Middle and lower Paraná and Uruguay River basins; Laguna dos Patos basin. Type locality: La Plata River, Uruguay.

60.0cm. (24ins)

22-25°c (71-77°f.)

6.5-7.2.

Burgess, W.E. 1989 An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes. A preliminary survey of the Siluriformes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey (USA). 784 p.
Cardoso, Y. P., F. Brancolini, L. Protogino, A. Paracampo, S. Bogan, P. Posadas and J. I. Montoya-Burgos, 2019. An integrated approach clarifies the cryptic diversity in Hypostomus Lacépède 1803 from the Lower La Plata Basin. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciéncias 91(2):e20180131: [1-25].
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. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).