Brochiloricaria Isbruecker & Nijssen, 1979

Raphael Covain & Sonia Fisch-Muller, 2007, The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis., Zootaxa 1462, pp. 1-40 : 27

Brochiloricaria Isbruecker & Nijssen, 1979 .

Type species: Brochiloricaria chauliodon Isbruecker, 1979 .

Holotype: ZSM 23342 , Argentina, Entre Rios Province, Isla El Dorado, Parana , Guaza (locality not stated).

Gender: feminine.

The species of this genus are distributed in the Paraná system, including the Paraguay River. Brochiloricaria is an abdomino-lip brooder. The species reproduce like those of Loricaria (Evers & Seidel 2005). Kavalco et al. (2005) made a cytogenetic analysis of four species of Loricariidae and provided a synthesis of the karyotypic diversity of the family. These authors hypothesized that the diploid number of 2n = 54 chromosomes was a plesiomorphic character within Loricariidae . This number was found in all characterized species and populations of Neoplecostominae and Delturinae , and in twelve of the fourteen characterized species of Hypoptopomatinae . For this reason, they considered these three subfamilies basal. Considering Loricariinae , they argued that according to the sampling and to the great observed diversity in diploid numbers(from 2n = 36 to 2n = 74), evolutionary trends were difficult to establish. Nevertheless, they underlined that a dozen of species possessed 2n = 54 ± 2 chromosomes as found in Hypoptopomatinae , Neoplecostominae and Delturinae . Kavalco et al. (2005) gave karyotypic characteristics of B. macrodon , with 2n = 58 chromosomes. Brochiloricaria is morphologicaly very similar to Loricaria and can be distinguished from the latter only by its teeth characteristics (teeth very long of equal size on both jaws versus premaxillary teeth almost two times longer than dentary ones). On the basis of molecular data and tooth shape of Hypostomus fonchii Montoya-Burgos et al. (2002) and Weber & Montoya-Burgos (2002) demonstrated that dentition is not always a reliable character to define a genus. The genus Cochliodon , placed in Hypostominae , was erected on the basis of its spoon-shaped dentition; it is now considered as a junior synonym of Hypostomus . Consequently, Brochiloricaria may be a synonym of Loricaria , but complementary studies based on molecular data need to be conducted. Two valid species are assigned to the genus (Ferraris 2003).