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Tridentopsis brevis (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889)

Image contributors to this species:

Allan James (1) Zhou Hang (2) Peru Aquarium Group (1) Adrian Taylor (4)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Found in the in the sand of shallow rivers and creeks; parasitic, entering gill chambers of larger catfishes; also known for entering, probably by mistake, the urethra of mammals urinating under water. Aquarium Care: Seldem kept in the aquarium due to their plain appearance and there preference to hide. Needs a substrate of fine gravel or mulm. Diet: Daphnia and mosquito larvae. Etymology: Greek, tres tria = three + Latin, dens = teeth. –opsis, appearance, referring to similarity to the closely related Tridens. The specific name of brevis: short, referring to short and deep body, shorter than Tridens melanops, its presumed congener at the time. Remarks: Formerly Tridensisilis brevis but in the paper by Datovo A., et al. 2023 they examined specimens collected near the type-locality of T. brevis (ZUEC 15118) that fitted the diagnostic characters originally reported for the species. These specimens clearly belong to Tridentopsis. Therefore, all evidence indicate that T. brevis is a Tridentopsis and, consequently, Tridensimilis is a monotypic genus containing only T. venezuelae (Datovo A., et al 2023).

Common Name:

Dwarf Parasitic Catfish, Glass Candiru, Glass Parasitic Catfish

Synonyms:

Tridens brevis, Tridensimilis brevis

Family:

Trichomycteridae

Distribution:

South America: Brazil: Amazon River basin. Type locality: Tabatinga (Brazil).

Size:

3.0cm. (1¼ins)

Temp:

21-28°c (69-83°f.)

p.H.

6.0-7.0.

Reference:

Datovo A, Ochoa L, Vita L, Presti P, Ohara WM, de Pinna MCC. A new genus and species of miniature tridentine catfish from the Amazon basin (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae). Neotrop Ichthyol. 2023; 21(3).
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fish in the News
Riehl, R. and H.A. Baensch 1996 Aquarien Atlas, Band 1.10th edition. Mergus Verlag GmBH, Melle, Germany. 992 p.

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

Tridentopsis brevis

Tridentopsis brevis

Tridentopsis brevis
Head view

Tridentopsis brevis

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