Habitat:
Eight species of Hypostomus are known from
the rio São Francisco basin and could possibly
occur in rivers draining into northeastern Brazilian
coastal drainages. These are H. alatus Castelnau,
1855, H. francisci (Lütken, 1874), H.
garmani (Regan, 1904), H. johnii (Steindachner,
1877), H. lima (Lütken, 1874), H.
macrops (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1888), H.
subcarinatus Castelnau, 1855, and H. vaillanti
(Steindachner, 1877). Most of those species were originally
described from the rio das Velhas, a tributary to
the upper rio São Francisco, but they were
not recorded in coastal drainages of the Bahia State.
In fact, a detailed comparative study is necessary
to establish exactly which of these species occurs
in the portion of the rio São Francisco draining
Bahia. In addition to the aforementioned species,
only H. scabriceps (Eigenmann & Eigenmann,
1888) is known to occur in nearby coastal drainages
(rio São Mateus, Espírito Santo State),
(Zanata et.al 2013). The Hypostomus genus
has 7 soft rays to the dorsal fin whereas the similar
looking Pterygoplichthys species have 10 soft
dorsal fin rays. Aquarium Care: As
with most of this genus, will do well in a larger
aquarium, although this is one of the smaller species
in the genera, and the aquarium well filtered. Water
parameters can be quite diverse for this genera. Diet:
Omnivore with a liking for green, tablet and frozen
foods. Etymology: The specific name
francisci: Of the rio São Francisco,
Brazil, type locality.
Common
Name:
None
Synonyms:
Plecostomus francisci
Family:
Loricariidae
Distribution:
Brazil:
Upper São Francisco River basin. Type
locality: In flumine Sti. Francisci [=São
Francisco River, Brazil].
Size:
36.0cm. (14½ins)
Temp:
22-25°c (71-77°f.)
p.H.
6.5-7.2.
IUCN
Red List
Hypostomus
francisci is distributed throughout the upper and
middle São Francisco River basin, where it is
frequent and abundant. No significant threats to the
species have been detected; therefore, Hypostomus
francisci has been categorised as Least
Concern (LC), (IUCN 2022).
Reference:
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. Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation
(ICMBio). 2022. Hypostomus francisci.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.
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, version (25/01/2019). Zanata, Angela M., Sardeiro, Byanca, &
Zawadzki, Cláudio H.. (2013). A new
dark-dotted species of Hypostomus Lacépède
(Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from rio Paraguaçu,
Bahia State, Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, 11(2),
247-256.
Hypostomus
francisci From Rio das Velhas S of town of Rio Acima (upper
Säo Francisco), 20°08'16.9"S, 43°47'33.8"W
Hypostomus
francisci
Hypostomus
francisci Head view
Hypostomus
francisci
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