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Rhamdia guatemalensis (Günther, 1864)

Image contributors to this species:

Nathan Lujan (1) Jan Meerman (1) Erick Sosa Rodriguez (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: This species has the following characters: pigmented body; functional eyes; dorsal fin base 14.4-19.4% of SL; origin of adipose fin anterior to the anus; maxillary barbels extend beyond pelvic fin origin; adipose fin insertion closer to the dorsal fin than to the caudal fin. Colouration: Brown body with a distinct lateral longitudinal dark band. Habitat: Rhamdia guatemalensis occupies main channel of rivers and streams, either with turbid waters and high sediment loads or with transparent waters and few nutrients. It prefers pools and slow-flowing waters of different depths and has plant material deposits and heavy substrates such as rocks and stones which serve as shelter for this fish during the day. Aquarium Care: Treat as you would do with any member of the Pimelodus in that they will be predatory on small fishes in the aquarium and it is also better to keep them in small groups rather than singularly, as this will dilute the aggression. Diet: Will eat any aquarium prepared foods such as tablets, pellets, frozen and live foods. Not fussy eaters. Etymology: The specific name guatemalensis: From Guatemala.

Common Name:

Pale catfish

Synonyms:

Pimelodus guatemalensis

Family:

Heptapteridae

Distribution:

America: Trans-Andean region of Colombia to southern Mexico.

Size:

23.0cm. (9ins)

Temp:

24-26°C (75-79°F)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

IUCN Red List

Rhamdia guatemalensis is broadly distributed in Atlantic and Pacific drainage river basins, from central Mexico to northern South America, including trans-Andean basins in Colombia and Venezuela. While total population size and population trends are unknown, this species is often dominant and only few localised populations could be considered threatened, mostly due to habitat degradation. Given a lack of major pervasive threats and no documented evidence of major population decline, R. guatemalensis is assessed as Least Concern, (IUCN 2019).

Reference:

Arroyave, J. 2019. Rhamdia guatemalensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
Henández, C.L., A. Ortega-Lara, G.C. Sánchez-Garcés and M.H. Alford, 2015. Genetic and morphometric evidence for the recognition of several recently synonymized species of Trans-Andean Rhamdia (Pisces: Siluriformes: Heptapteridae). Copeia 103(3):563-579.

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

Rhamdia guatemalensis
Colombia

Rhamdia guatemalensis
Yalbac, Orange Walk District, Belize

Rhamdia guatemalensis
Yucatán, Mexico

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