SCOTCAT.COM

your internet guide to all things catfish

Trichomycterus punctulatus Valenciennes, 1846

Image contributors to this species:

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

It is fished and plays an important role in the local cuisine in northern Peru, where this species is known as life, pronounced "lee-fey", or life monsefuano (dishes: panquitas de life or sudado de life). Although it can be difficult to ascertain the exact species depicted in the artwork of the ancient Moche culture, it was likely T. punctulatus that was important in their mythology where perhaps recognised as a connection between light and darkness. In excavations of Huaca de la Luna, more than one-quarter of all fish bones were this species, revealing that it already played an important role as a food to the Moche. Habitat: Endemic to western Peru, ranging at least from Lambayeque and Cajamarca to Tacna. It mostly lives in rivers and streams, but can also be found in habitats such as small lakes and paddy fields. Diet: It is an opportunistic predator that mainly feeds on insects, but also will take small crustaceans and plant material (algae and remains of phanerogams).

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

Trichomycterus punctulatum

Family:

Trichomycteridae

Distribution:

South America: Western Peru. Type locality: la rivière de Lima, Peru.

Size:

15.0cm. (6ins)

Temp:

25-28°c (77-83°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

Reference:

Bourget, S. (2016). Sacrifice, Violence, and Ideology Among the Moche: The Rise of Social Complexity in Ancient Peru.
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.
Dyer, B.S. (2000). "Systematic review and biogeography of the freshwater fishes of Chile". Estud. Oceanol. 19: 77–98.
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, ( 08/2019 ).
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Jan. 2021.

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

Trichomycterus punctulatus
Jequetepeque River, Peru

If you would like to contribute to the monthly factsheets with an article, information or photos, please e-mail me. You will of course be credited for your work.

If you would like to donate any denomination of monies to the site just click the above link button. All proceeds will go to running the site and hopefully to keep it going for a few years yet.