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Spinipterus acsi Akama & Ferraris, 2011

Image contributors to this species:

Steven Grant (3) Kiruya Momochi (3)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

A collection of fishes made near Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon contained a single specimen of a remarkable new auchenipterid catfish. This catfish is characterised by several externally-visible autapomorphic features, of which the most noteworthy is the presence of four rows of serrations along the pectoral and dorsal fin spines. The combination of features make impossible to place the new species into any of the existing auchenipterid genera, so the authors, Akama & Ferraris, created a new genus Spinipterus. Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 5. A genus of the auchenipterid subfamily Auchenipterinae that is distinguished from all other auchenipterid genera by the following combination of derived features: pectoral- and dorsal-fin spines with four rows of serrations running from base to the tip of the spines; (2) lateral margins of skull roofing bones ornamented with a single row of spines; (3) groove along dorsal midline posterior to dorsal fin, in which the adducted dorsal fin rests. Also the new genus has a unique combination of fin-ray meristics that are summarized as follows: D- II,4-5; P- I,5-6; V- i,5 (i,4 on opposite side); A- iv,16; C- i,7,9,i. Etymology: Spinipterus: Name derived from Latin 'spina' for spine and Greek 'pterus' meaning wing, referring to the serrated nature of fin spines.; acsi: by the Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Program of the National Science Foundation. Remarks: There is now 2 species in this genera with the latest being Spinipterus moijiri which was described by Rocha et al in 2019 for the undescribed species Spinipterus sp. "Otorongo".

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Auchenipteridae

Distribution:

South America: Peru and Brazilian Amazon.

Size:

3.5cm. (1½ins)

Temp:

22-26°c (71-79°f.)

p.H.

6.5-7.2.

IUCN Red List

Spinipterus acsi is known only from two specimens: the holotype from the Nanay Rive in Peru and a second specimen from the Juruá River in Brazil (ca. 1,900 km distance between them). This species seems to be naturally rare and additional collecting efforts should be conducted in order to reveal a more realistic geographic distribution. As the Driftwood Catfish is associated with dead submerged logs, it can be potentially affected by suppression of marginal vegetation. As more information is necessary to properly assess its conservation status, Spinipterus acsi is assessed as Data Deficient (DD), until additional information becomes available (IUCN 2023).

Reference:

Akama, A & CJ Ferraris Jr, 2011. Spinipterus, a new genus of small, spiny catfish (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Peruvian Amazon. Zootaxa 2992: 52-60.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 08/2019 ).
Grant, Steven. Spinipterus acsi Akama & Ferraris 2011 - A new, strange, dwarf Driftwood Catfish, with comments on the 'Novia Otorongo' Woodcatfish (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae). CatChat, The Journal of the Catfish Study Group. Volume 12, Issue 4. October 2011.
Varella, H.R. 2023. Spinipterus acsi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023.
Rocha, M. Rossoni, F. Akama, A. Zuanon, J. 2019. A new species of spiny driftwood catfish Spinipterus (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Amazon basin.

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

Spinipterus acsi

Spinipterus acsi
Caudal fin view

Spinipterus acsi
Dorsal fin view

Spinipterus acsi

Spinipterus acsi
Head view

Spinipterus acsi
Head-on view

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