Hypancistrus

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Hypancistrus
Hypancistrus zebra

Hypancistrus zebra

Systematics
Order : Catfish (Siluriformes)
Subordination : Loricarioidei
Family : Armored catfish (Loricariidae)
Subfamily : Hypostominae
Tribe : Ancistrini
Genre : Hypancistrus
Scientific name
Hypancistrus
Isbrücker & Nijssen , 1991

Hypancistrus (Greek: hypo = under and agkistron = bite) is a genus of armored catfish from the catfish family. It isnative tothe Amazon basin of South America. In contrast to many other harness catfish, the species of the genus Hypancistrus are omnivores . They are popular aquarium fish , especially the zebra fish .

Taxonomy

This genus is still relatively new and was only described in 1991 with the type species H. zebra . H. inspector was described by Armbruster in 2002. Four new Hypancistrus species were described in 2007. Undescribed species are often marked with L numbers .

Occurrence

The H. zebra was first discovered in the late 1980s in the Río Xingú in Brazil . The genus Hypancistrus is also known from the Orinoco and the Rio Negro . The rest of the species described comes from Venezuela , more precisely from the upper Orinoco catchment in the border area between Venezuela and Colombia . Thus, the genus Hypancistrus now consists of six described species, including the type H. zebra .

These fish live in slow to moderately fast flowing water at an average water temperature of 27 to 30 ° C. There they colonize crevices and the rocky subsoil.

Anatomy and appearance

In general, they have a flattened, elongated body and are armored by bone shields on the sides of the body and, in some species, on the ventral side. The mouth has strong lips and is transformed into a suction disk. As a result, it is ideally suited to rasp off growth food from stones and roots and to hold on to suitable substrates in fast-flowing mountain streams by sucking in. There are also genera of armored catfish that feed primarily on wood, such as the genus Panaque and Panoquolus .

The size of the armored catfish varies greatly. From only 3 to 4 cm small dwarf forms to medium-sized species of around 12 to 15 cm to real giants, which can even reach over 1 m in length.

The different types of Hypancistrus can be distinguished by variations in their stripes, bands or pits. H. zebra can be described as a white fish with black stripes that start behind the head and continue to the tail. H. furunculus appears similar to H. zebra , but its color is a little creamier. In addition, it only has one stripe and not necessarily several, like H. zebra . H. furunculus and H. debilittera have vertical stripes on the caudal fin. H. debilittera has a dark base color and white points and bands and lines that can form an E on the nose. H. inspector has smaller points on the head and larger ones on the body. Some points of the upper caudal fin can connect and form lines. When the dorsal fin is put on, it does not reach the adipose fin. In contrast to both are H. contradens and H. lunaorum . H. lunaorum has very small gold dots that cover the body and can also appear on the head. H. contradens has white or pink dots of the same size, which do not connect.

nutrition

Hypancistrus are rather inconsistent when it comes to their nutrition, they are considered omnivores. H. zebra is a fish that likes to eat meat in the form of zooplankton, shrimp , mussel meat , but also plants and soft, young wood. Other species seem to prefer plants, for example the H. inspector has been observed to eat algae , detritus , but also seeds. As stomach tests have shown, H.contradens likes to eat growth .

species

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hypancistrus on Fishbase.org (English)
  2. ↑ a b Jonathan W. Armbruster: [ http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/res_area/loricariid/fish_key/Hypanc/Hypancistrus_inspector.pdf Hypancistrus inspector: A New Species of Suckermouth Armored Catfish (Loricariidae: Ancistrinae) . ] ( PDF ) In: Copeia . 2007, pp. 86-92. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jonathan W. Armbruster, Lujan, Nathan K. and Taphorn, DJ: [ http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/res_area/loricariid/fish_key/Hypanc/Hypancistrus4. pdf Four New Hypancistrus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from Amazonas, Venezuela .] ( PDF ) In: Copeia . 2007, pp. 62-79. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
  4. ↑ a b Hypancistrus zebra on Fishbase.org (English)
  5. ↑ Hypancistrus inspector on Fishbase.org (English)
  6. ↑ a b Tan, M. & Armbruster, JW (2016): Two new species of spotted Hypancistrus from the Rio Negro drainage (Loricariidae, Hypostominae). ZooKeys , 123-135 (13 Jan 2016) doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.552.5956

Web links

Commons : Hypancistrus  - collection of images, videos and audio files