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Lithoxus lithoides Eigenmann, 1912

Image contributors to this species:

Nathan Lujan (1) Mark Henry Sabaj (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

The only species in this genera. Habitat: Clings to rocks in its natural habitat. Aquarium Care: Quite a demanding genera which need pure, oxygen rich water. They need plenty of hiding places and the aquarium to be very strongly filtered. Diet: Insectivores that feed in their natural habitat from insect larvae on rocks. Feed Frozen mosquito larvae, brine shrimp and Daphnia. They will also except tablet foods. Etymology: The specific name lithoides: Neo-Latin from ei´dos, form or shape: líthos, stone, i.e., stone-like; “It is flat and clings to the rock, which it greatly resembles”.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Loricariidae

Distribution:

South America: Essequibo River, Guyana and upper Corantijn River basin, Suriname. Type locality: Cataracts of British Guiana.

Size:

8.5cm. (3¼ins)

Temp:

23-27°c (73-81°f)

p.H.

6.0-7.5.

IUCN Red List

Despite the little information available on this species and possible extinction of subpopulations due to dam construction, the current range of the species is relatively wide, and the current threat of any existing or future dams may be localised. It is therefore tentatively assessed as Least Concern. However, ongoing impacts of threats must continue to be investigated (IUCN 2023).

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. 2015. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 03/2016 ).
Lujan, N.K., 2008. Description of a new Lithoxus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Guayana Highlands with a discussion of Guiana Shield biogeography. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 6(3):413-418.
Salvador, G.N. 2023. Lithoxus lithoides. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023.
Seidel, I. 2008. Back to Nature guide to L-catfishes, Ettlingen, Germany 208 p.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

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

Lithoxus lithoides
AUM 39040, 49.0 mm SL, Guyana, Essequibo River at Yukanopito Falls

Lithoxus lithoides

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