Aspidoras

Aspidoras is a genus of catfishes of the family Callichthyidae from Brazil.

Aspidoras
Aspidoras fuscoguttatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Callichthyidae
Subfamily: Corydoradinae
Genus: Aspidoras
R. Ihering, 1907
Type species
Aspidoras rochai
Ihering, 1907

Taxonomy

The type species for this genus is Aspidoras rochai. The name Aspidoras is derived from the Greek aspis (shield) and dora (skin).[1]

Aspidoras is easily distinguished from the other genera of the subfamily Corydoradinae by the presence of a supraoccipital fontanel; this character is an autapomorphy for the genus.[2] Many of the species of Aspidoras are similar and often hard to distinguish. Without specimens, it is often very difficult to positively identify a species from photographs alone. They are all small species.[2] A. taurus is exceptional in that it just surpasses 5 cm in length.[3]

The monophyly of the genus has been demonstrated.[4]

Species

There are currently 23 recognized species in this genus:

Distribution

Aspidoras species are endemic to small and shallow streams draining the Brazilian Shield.[3] The species of Aspidoras are distributed in eastern and central Brazil.[8] Most species are narrowly endemic, occurring in restricted areas of some major river drainages: A. fuscoguttatus and A. lakoi from the Paraná River system. A. albater, A. eurycephalus and A. gabrieli from the Tocantins River system. A. brunneus, A. marianae and A. microgalaeus from the Xingu River system. A. belenos, A. pauciradiatus and A. velites from Araguaia River system. A. rochai from rivers around Fortaleza. A. raimundi from the Parnaíba River. A. carvalhoi from rivers around Guaramiranga, Ceará State. A. maculosus from the Itapicuru River. A. menezesi from the Jaguaribe River. A. spilotus from the Acaráu River. A. poecilus from the Xingu River, Araguaia River, and Tocantins River systems. A. psammatides from the Paraguaçu River. A. virgulatus from the coastal rivers in Espírito Santo. A. depinnai is from the Ipojuca River basin, Pernambuco State.[2] A. taurus is known from the upper Itiquira River and upper Taquari River, both tributaries of the Paraguay River, Mato Grosso State, Brazil.[3]

In the aquarium

Aspidoras do fairly well in aquaria under similar conditions as for most Corydoras species. The water conditions that seem best are a pH of 6.8 to 7.0 and a temperature of about 22 °C to 26 °C. The species that is most likely to be found in an aquarium is the sixray corydoras, Aspidoras pauciradiatus.

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2015). Species of Aspidoras in FishBase. April 2015 version.
  2. Britto, M.R. (2000). "Aspidoras depinnai (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae): A New Species from Northeastern Brazil". Copeia. 2000 (4): 1048–1055. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2000)000[1048:adscan]2.0.co;2.
  3. Lima, F.C.T. & Britto, M.R. (2001). "New Catfish of the Genus Aspidoras (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) from the Upper Rio Paraguai System in Brazil". Copeia. 2001 (4): 1010–1016. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2001)001[1010:ncotga]2.0.co;2.
  4. Britto, M.R. (2003). "Phylogeny of the subfamily Corydoradinae Hoedeman, 1952 (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae), with a definition of its genera" (PDF). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 153: 119–154. doi:10.1635/0097-3157(2003)153[0119:potsch]2.0.co;2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28.
  5. Wosiacki W.B.; Pereira T.d.G.; Reis R.E. (2014). "Description of a New Species of Aspidoras (Siluriformes, Callichthyidae) from the Serra dos Carajás, Lower Tocantins River Basin, Brazil". Copeia. 2014 (2): 309–316. doi:10.1643/ci-13-091.
  6. Leão M.D.V.; Britto M.R.; Wosiacki W.B. (2015). "A new species of Aspidoras Ihering (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae: Corydoradinae) from the Rio Xingu Basin, Pará, Brazil". Zootaxa. 3986 (5): 577–587. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3986.5.5.
  7. Caserta Tencatt; L.F.; and M. Elina Bichuette (2017). Aspidoras mephisto, new species: The first troglobitic Callichthyidae (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from South America. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0171309.
  8. Reis, R.E. (1997). "Aspidoras". Tree of Life Web Project.
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