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Spectracanthicus murinus Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1987

Image contributors to this species:

Yann Fulliquet (2) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (3)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Small species with a pointed head against S. punctatissimus which has a rounded head profile and 12-14 vertabrae (against 8-11 in S. murinus). Similar to the Leporacanthicus genus but lacks the lip barbels. Dorsal fin with a posterior membrane. Aquarium Care: Peaceful, but they do have a requirement for higher oxygen and prefer currents in the water with a powerful filter. Sexual Differences: Males have a longer and broader head and a heavier growth of odontodes. Diet: Carnivores and feed on snails in their natural habitat. Feed live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, mysis, mussels and fish flesh. Tablet foods can also be fed. Etymology: The specific name murinus: murinus; meaning mouse grey and refers to its colour.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Loricariidae

Distribution:

South America: Brazil; Tapajós River basin. Type locality: Brésil, Est. Pará, système du Rio Tapajós: Poça de Pedra no Rio Tapajós, São Luis.

Size:

12.0cm. (4¾ins)

Temp:

26-30°c (79-87°f)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

IUCN Red List

Spectracanthicus murinus is endemic to Brazil and widely distributed, occurring in the Tapajós River basin and possibly in the lower Xingu River, Pará state. It is a naturally uncommon and not very abundant species. Although S. murinus is used as an ornamental fish, this does not compromise its subpopulations, and as no other significant threats have been detected, Spectracanthicus murinus has been categorised as Least Concern (LC), (IUCN 2022).

Reference:

Chamon, C.C. and L.H. Rapp Py-Daniel, 2014. Taxonomic revision of Spectracanthicus Nijssen & Isbrücker (Loricariidae: Hypostominae: Ancistrini), with description of three new species. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 12(1):1-25.
Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). 2022. Spectracanthicus murinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2014. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 08/2014 ).
Konn-Vetterlein, Daniel, New Loricariids described. Amazonas magazine. Jan/Feb 2015.
Seidel, Ingo; Back to Nature guide to L-catfishes 208p.

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

Spectracanthicus murinus

Spectracanthicus murinus

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