''Lithoxus lithoides'' is a species of armored catfish native to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

and

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

where it is found in stony rivulets of the Essequibo and upper Correntyne River basins. It can be found clinging to rocks in rapidly moving water. This species grows to a length of SL. It is the only species in its genus.

Taxonomy

''Lithoxus'' is supported as a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to ''

Exastilithoxus ''Exastilithoxus'' is a small genus of suckermouth armored catfish native to South America. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Exastilithoxus fimbriatus'' ( Steindachner, 1915) * '' Exastilithoxus hoedemani'' ...

''. Together, these two genera form a well-supported

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Diet

''Lithoxus'' (along with its sister, ''Exastilithoxus'') are fairly unusual among loricariids in that they subsist entirely on a diet of insect larvae.

References

* Ancistrini Fish described in 1912 Fish of Guyana Fish of Suriname Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann {{Hypostominae-stub