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Trichomycterus alternatus (Eigenmann, 1917)

Image contributors to this species:

Yann Fulliquet (3)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: Body cross-section oval near head, gradually compressed posteriorly towards caudal fin. Body elongate with dorsal and ventral profiles slightly convex on trunk and nearly straight along caudal peduncle. Body depth approximately even along entire body, only slightly decreasing posterior to dorsal-fin origin. (Vinícius et al. 2019). Habitat: Atlantic coastal river basins, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo States, Jequitinhonha River basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Diet: Will feed on most aquarium fare such as tablet, frozen and live foods. It is an opportunistic predator that mainly feeds on insects, but also will take small crustaceans and plant material (algae and remains of phanerogams). Etymology: The specific name alternatus: Latin for alternated, referring to 10–14 large spots along middle of sides, frequently alternating with a series of spots above them and sometimes partly confluent with them, forming a longitudinal series or a series of irregular bars across the back.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

Pygidium alternatum, Pygidium florense, Pygidium travassosi

Family:

Trichomycteridae

Distribution:

South America: Atlantic coastal river basins, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo States, Jequitinhonha River basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Type locality: Rio Doce, near the village Rio Doce, Minas Gerais, Brazil [20°14'41"S, 42°53'45"W].

Size:

8.0cm. (3¼ins)

Temp:

24-28°c (75-83°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

IUCN Red List

Trichomycterus alternatus is widely distributed, frequent, and abundant in the Paraíba do Sul River basin and coastal rivers from the states of Rio de Janeiro to Paraná. However, the high degree of degradation of the basins imposes diffuse threats on the different subpopulations of the species, which cannot yet be quantified but must be monitored. As current knowledge of these threats does not indicate a risk of extinction, Trichomycterus alternatus has been listed in the Least Concern (LC) Category, (IUCN 2022).

Reference:

de Pínna, M.C.C. and W. Wosiacki, 2003. Trichomycteridae (pencil or parasitic catfishes). p. 270-290. 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.
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. 2022. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 08/2022 ).
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio). 2022. Trichomycterus alternatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.
Vinícius J. C. Reis & Mário de Pinna, The type specimens of Trichomycterus alternatus (Eigenmann, 1917) and Trichomycterus zonatus (Eigenmann, 1918), with elements for future revisionary work (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae).

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

Trichomycterus alternatus

Trichomycterus alternatus
Head view

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