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Paraloricaria vetula (Valenciennes, 1835)

Image contributors to this species:

Steven Grant (2) Freshwater Fish from Uruguay 2nd. edition (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Aquarium Care: Grows rather large and would need a large tank to accommodate it and a good water flow in the aquarium. Diet: In their natural habitat part of their diet is the mollusc, Limnoperna fortunei which is an invasive species. Etymology: According to Valenciennes (1840), Latin cognate of vieille, old woman, from its local common name, vielle à longue queue (“long-tailed old woman”), referring to its filamentous caudal-fin ray; vieille (velha in Portuguese, vieja in Spanish) is a name it shares with several loricariid, doradid and callichthyid catfishes (e.g., Loricariichthys anus) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, allusion not explained nor evident. Remarks: Not exported very often due to their large size.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

Loricaria vetula

Family:

Loricariidae

Distribution:

South America: La Plata River basin.

Size:

50.0cm. (20ins)

Temp:

20-27°c (67-81°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.5.

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., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2003. Loricariidae - Loricariinae (Armored catfishes). p. 330-350. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (04/2010).
García, M.L. and Protogino, L.C. (2005), Invasive freshwater molluscs are consumed by native fishes in South America. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 21: 34-38.
Salvador, G.N. 2023. Paraloricaria vetula. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

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

Paraloricaria vetula

Paraloricaria vetula
Head view

Paraloricaria vetula
Dorsal view

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