The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis.
Author
Raphael Covain
Author
Sonia Fisch-Muller
text
Zootaxa
2007
1462
1
40
http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D1F13841-BD7B-4D00-B57D-9CBEC187B83C
journal article
z01462p001
D1F13841-BD7B-4D00-B57D-9CBEC187B83C
Apistoloricaria
Isbruecker
& Nijssen, 1986
.
Type species:
Apistoloricaria condei
Isbruecker
& Nijssen, 1986
.
Holotype
:
FMNH
94683
,
Ecuador
,
Rio Napo drainage, mouth of Rio Tiputini
.
Gender: feminine.
Representatives of this genus are distributed in the upper Amazon and Orinoco drainages, along the Atlantic slope of the Andes. They inhabit sand substrates and are morphologically adapted to this habitat. As with other representatives of the
Pseudohemiodon
group, their body is strongly depressed and the pelvic fins are used for locomotion, enabling these fish to appear to “walk” on the substrate. Sexual dimorphism is apparent through differentiated lip structure. The lip surfaces of the male are rather papillose while those of the female are filamentous(Nijssen &
Isbruecker
1988). These taxa are abdomino-lip brooders. Eggs are laid in a single layered mass, and are attached to the surface of the lower lip and abdomen of the male.
Isbruecker
& Nijssen (1986a) described the biotope of
A. condei
according to D. J. Stewart’s field notes. This species was collected in turbid and dark waters, in moderately fast flowing streams, between 2 to 10 meters deep. No submerged vegetation was noted, and the bottom was made of sand, mud, dead leaves, twigs, branches, and trunks.
Apistoloricaria
is
not well diagnosed and upon further examination, may prove to be a synonym of
Rhadinoloricaria
. These two genera are distinguished primarily by the presence or absence of the iris operculum (absent or vestigial in
Apistoloricaria
versus present in
Rhadinoloricaria
), a more conspicuous rostrum in
Rhadinoloricaria
, and by the number of fringed barbels (14 in
Apistoloricaria
versus 12 in
Rhadinoloricaria
). Four valid species are recognized (Ferraris 2003) and a key to the species is available in Nijssen &
Isbruecker
(1988).