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Ochmacanthus alternus Myers, 1927

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Relevant Information:

Aquarium Care: Can be housed in a small aquarium with small characins as tank mates. Diet: Small live, frozen and flake foods. Etymology: The genus name Ochmacanthus: ochma (Gr.), series; acanthus, from ákantha (Gr.), thorn, presumably referring to nine “claw-like erectile” spines on preopercle, and nine similar spines on opercle above and behind the gill-opening of O. flabilliferus. The specific name alternus: Latin for one after the other, referring to its colour pattern, with large, irregular, blotches alternating with narrow interspaces.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Trichomycteridae

Distribution:

South America: Negro and Orinoco River basins, Brazil and Venezuela. Type locality: Venezuela: Caño de Quiribana, near Caicara.

Size:

4.0cm (1¾ins)

Temp:

23-26°c (73-79°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

IUCN Red List

The distribution area includes protected/conservation areas and areas remote from human settlements. The data in biological collections and different regional reports do not suggest a perceptible reduction in the population of the species. Therefore, it is categorised as Least Concern (LC), (IUCN 2022).

Reference:

Burgess, W.E., 1989. An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes. A preliminary survey of the Siluriformes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey (USA).
DoNascimiento, CD, Herrera-Collazos, E.E., Mojica, J.I., Rodríguez-Olarte, D., Taphorn, D.C. & Usma, S. 2022. Ochmacanthus alternus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.
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. 2017. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 07/2017 ).
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

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

Ochmacanthus alternus

Ochmacanthus alternus
Dorsal view

Ochmacanthus alternus
Ventral view

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