Spectracanthicus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spectracanthicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Tribe: Ancistrini
Genus: Spectracanthicus
Nijssen and Isbrücker, 1986
Type species
Spectracanthicus murinus
Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1987
Binomial name

Spectracanthicus murinus
Nijssen and Isbrücker, 1986
Spectracanthicus punctatissimus
(Steindachner, 1882)
Synonyms

Oligancistrus
Rapp Py-Daniel, 1989

Spectracanthicus is a small genus of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Loricariidae. It includes two species, S. murinus and S. punctatissimus.

Contents

[edit] Taxonomy

Spectracanthicus was first described in 1986 with S. murinus as the type species of this genus.[1] S. punctatissimus was transferred to this genus from Oligancistrus after it was concluded that the genus does not warrant recognition because of its close relationship to S. murinus.[2] Some authors maintain the validity of Oligancistrus.[3]

S. murinus appears to be unique in the tribe Ancistrini in that it has lost many of the traits that describe this group, such as evertible cheek plates and modified opercle; S. punctatissimus appears to show a trend towards this loss.[2]

[edit] Distribution and habitat

Spectracanthicus are distributed in South America. S. murinus originates from the Tapajós River basin.[4] S. punctatissimus originates from the Xingu River basin.[5] Both of these species are from Brazil.[3]

[edit] Appearance and anatomy

Spectracanthicus are generally small loricariids. S. murinus grows to a length of about 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) SL.[4] S. punctatissimus reaches a length of about 10.6 cm (4.2 in) SL.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Spectracanthicus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. June 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Armbruster, Jonathan W.. Spectracanthicus Nijssen and Isbrücker, 1986. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  3. ^ a b Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa 1418: 1–628. 
  4. ^ a b "Spectracanthicus murinus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. June 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Spectracanthicus punctatissimus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. June 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
 This catfish-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.