''Neblinichthys'' is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of suckermouth armored catfishes native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Neblinichthys brevibracchium'' Taphorn, Armbruster, López-Fernández & C. R. Bernard, 2010 * '' Neblinichthys echinasus'' Taphorn, Armbruster, López-Fernández & C. R. Bernard, 2010 * '' Neblinichthys peniculatus'' Armbruster & Taphorn, 2013Armbruster, J.W. & Taphorn, D.C. (2013)
Description of ''Neblinichthys peniculatus'', a new species of loricariid catfish from the río Paragua drainage of Venezuela.
''Neotropical Ichthyology, 11 (1): 65–72.'' * '' Neblinichthys pilosus'' Ferraris, Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1986 * '' Neblinichthys roraima'' Provenzano, Lasso & Ponte, 1995 * '' Neblinichthys yaravi'' (

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1915)

Etymology

According to

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, ''Neblinichthys'' is derived from the Latin ''nebula'' which means ''mist'' or ''vapor'', and ''ichthys'' for ''fish''. However, it has been stated by some sources that ''Neblinichthys'' actually owes its name to a base camp known as Neblina ("fog" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

) where the type specimen of ''N. pilosus'', the type species of the genus, was reportedly collected. The camp that the genus was named for is likely named after the

Cerro de la Neblina Cerro de la Neblina (lit. "Mountain of the Mist"), also known as Serra da Neblina in Brazil and Sierra de la Neblina in Venezuela, is a sandstone massif located in the northern Amazon Basin. It is a tilted, heavily eroded plateau, with a deep can ...

, which is a prominent

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

in the area, and documentation of nearby base camps named for the massif exists. The authors of the description of ''N. pilosus'' state that ''Neblinichthys'' derives its name from the type locality, which is listed as the massif itself rather than a camp located nearby, an explanation which should be taken as the correct etymology for the genus as it is included in its original description.Ferraris, C.J., Isbrücker, I.J., & Nijssen, H.M. (1986). Neblinichthys pilosus, a new genus and species of mailed catfish from the Rio Baria system, southern Venezuela (Pisces, Siluriformes, Loricariidae). This means that an accurate translation of the genus' name is "fish from the Cerro de la Neblina", even though not all species in the genus are found in the area, with some being found in entirely different countries and river systems from ''N. pilosus''.

Appearance and anatomy

''Neblinichthys'' species are unique in that the breeding males have a snout brush formed by elongate, bristle-like odontodes pointing forwards on the snout. More fairly elongated odontodes are found on the top of the head and on the body. Otherwise they appear rather similar to ''

Lasiancistrus ''Lasiancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes. They are native to South America and Panama. Taxonomy ''Lasiancistrus'' was first described as a subgenus of ''Ancistrus'' in 1904, including ''A. heteracanthus'', ''A. pictus'', '' ...

'' species. Females and juveniles may be differentiated from ''Lasiancistrus'' species by the lack of cheek whiskers. ''Neblinichthys'' species also have their

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

and

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

spines the same length.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6431395 Ancistrini Fish of South America Fish of Venezuela Catfish genera Taxa named by Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker Taxa named by Han Nijssen Freshwater fish genera