Sorubim cuspicaudus Littmann, Burr and Nass 2000

Michael W. Littmann, 2007, Systematic review of the neotropical shovelnose catfish genus Sorubim Cuvier (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae)., Zootaxa 1422, pp. 1-29 : 17

Sorubim cuspicaudus Littmann, Burr and Nass 2000

Trans-Andean Shovelnose Catfish (English); Antioqueno, Bagre blanco, Blanco pobre, Blanquillo, Cucharo, Gallego, hocico de paleton (Spanish)

Fig. 8 (Holotype)

Holotype: FMNH 56223 (327 mm SL). Colombia, Depto. de Tolima, Río Magdalena drainage, at Puerto Soplaviento, 11 Jan 1912, C. H. Eigenmann.

Diagnosis: Distinguished from all congeners by the following characters: caudal fin deeply forked; outer, unbranched principal rays of upper and lower lobes longest in each lobe and about equal in length (Littmann et al. 2000, fig. 2); posterior fontanelle elongate, forming conspicuous groove on supraoccipital bone, skin pigmented black in groove; other congeners without elongate posterior fontanelle, supraoccipital groove, or black pigment; unique in having combination of elongate body and broad-shaped head; other Sorubim species have either elongate body and head, or stout body with broad head.

Etymology: the specific epithet cuspi- (from cuspis), Latin for pointed, and -caudus, Latin for tail, refers to the diagnostic pointed caudal-fin lobes. The first part of the English common name “Trans-Andean” describes the general distribution of the fish; the remainder of the name (shovelnose catfish) is familiar to enthusiasts of the aquarium hobby, and differs from that recommended for S. lima (i.e., Duckbill catfish) by Robins et al. (1991).

Distribution: Sorubim cuspicaudus occurs west of the Andean Cordillera Oriental, and is endemic to three major drainage basins in northwestern South America: Lago Maracaibo, Ríos Magdalena and Sinu (Fig. 10). Miles (1947) reported that Sorubim (referred to as S. lima ) was not found in the upper reaches of the Río Cauca in northern Colombia. The cis/trans-Andean distribution pattern exhibited by Sorubim is repeated by some other lowland fish groups that have been critically examined in recent years (see references in Vari (1988) and Harold & Vari (1994).

Remarks: Sorubim infraoculare Spix and Agassiz 1829 was listed as a junior subjective synonym of S. lima above. Eigenmann and Eigenmann (1890) also listed S. infraoculare as such in their revision of the South American Nematognathi. Although justification for their conclusion was not included, this well-known revision included one of the first records of Sorubim reported from the Río Magdalena drainage, Colombia.