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Gladioglanis machadoi Ferraris & Mago-Leccia, 1989

Image contributors to this species:

Vitor Masson (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6; Anal soft rays: 15 - 18. Body shape (shape guide): elongated. Habitat: Inhabits small, heavily forested black-water streams with large leaf-litter deposits. Aquarium Care: Not recorderd as this is quite a rare species. Diet: Feeds on small invertebrates. Etymology: The genus name Gladioglanis: gladius (L.), sword, referring to strong and massive pectoral spine of G. machadoi, ancient name for a silurid catfish (probably Silurus aristotelis) dating to Aristotle, often used as a general term for catfish. The specific name machadoi: In honour of Antonio Machado Allison (b. 1945), Universidad Central de Venezuela (Caracas), for his interest in Venezuelan freshwater fishes and for being the first to collect this species.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Heptapteridae

Distribution:

South America: Amazon and Orinoco river basins: Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. Type locality: Venezuela, Territorio Federal Amazonas, Departamento Río Negro, Caño Manu of Casiquiare canal, approx. 250 m upstream of Solano, 2º00'N, 66º57'W.

Size:

3.5cm. (1¼ins)

Temp:

23-26°C (72-79°F)

p.H.

6.0-7.2.

IUCN Red List

Despite the little information available on this species, it has a wide range and no apparent threats. Therefore, it is assessed as Least Concern (IUCN 2023).

Reference:

Ferraris, C.J. Jr. and F. Mago-Leccia, 1989. A new genus and species of pimelodid catfish from the Río Negro and Río Orinoco drainages of Venezuela (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae). Copeia 1989(1):166-171.
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. 2026. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 02/2026 ).
Salvador, G.N. 2023. Gladioglanis machadoi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

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

Gladioglanis machadoi
Live specimen

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