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de Pinna, M. C. C., & Dagosta, F. C. P. 2022 (1)

An 8.4 mm SL specimen of P.. irritans in MZUSP 87049 is the smallest vandelliine yet found with evidence of ingested blood. The species also seems to mature at relatively small sizes. The lot MZUSP 96052 includes six female specimens with large mature eggs visible externally, the smallest of which is 13.0 mm SL and the largest 15.0 mm SL. (de Pinna, M. C. C., & Dagosta, F. C. P. 2022). Habitat: Paracanthopoma irritans has a widespread but patchy distribution in the tributaries of the Amazon basin in Brazil and Peru, and Río Orinoco in Venezuela. Except for a record in the Río Nanay (Rio Amazonas drainage in Peru), all other lots are from Amazonian tributaries east of the mouth of the Rio Negro. It is absent in the Araguaia system, where it is apparently replaced by P. cangussu. It has not yet been recorded in the southwestern Amazon. This is the only species of Paracanthopoma that occurs in any of the isolated drainages north of the mouth of the Amazon (Rio Amapá Grande), (de Pinna, M. C. C., & Dagosta, F. C. P. 2022). Aquarium Care: Not easy to keep and would need to be housed on their own as larger fish would be preyed upon for their blood in the gill chambers. Sand is the best substrate for digging themselves into and floating plants to cut the light down for this light sensitive species. Diet: Very difficult as all reports seem to intimate that they need larger fish to feed on. Etymology: The genus name Paracanthopoma: pará (Gr.), near, referring to similarity to Acanthopoma (Stegophilinae), both of which possess united gill membranes that are free from the isthmus. The specific name irritans: Latin for irritating, taken from the name of the human flea, Pulex irritans, also a hematophagous species.

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Trichomycteridae

South America: Amazon basin, Brazil and Peru, and Orinoco basin, Venezuela. Type locality: Brazil, Pará, Rio Trombetas.

1.5cm (¾ins)

23-26°c (73-79°f.)

6.0-7.0.

de Pinna, M. C. C., & Dagosta, F. C. P. (2022). A taxonomic review of the vampire catfish genus Paracanthopoma Giltay, 1935 (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae), with descriptions of nine new species and a revised diagnosis of the genus. Papéis Avulsos De Zoologia, 62, e202262072.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.