''Spatuloricaria terracanticum'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

in the family

Loricariidae The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are n ...

. It is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, where it occurs in the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wo ...

basin in Colombia. It is typically found in environments at elevations of 197 to 350 m (646 to 1148 ft) above sea level with moderate slopes, turbid to slightly clear water, a conductivity of 30 to 302

μS A microsecond is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one millionth (0.000001 or 10−6 or ) of a second. Its symbol is μs, sometimes simplified to us when Unicode is not available. A microsecond is equal to 1000 ...

/cm,

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

concentration of 1.6 to 7.6 mg/L, oxygen saturation of 22.5% to 98.8%, pH of between 6.4 and 8.2, temperatures of , and substrates composed of rocks and sand. The species reaches 28.6 cm (11.3 inches) in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

. ''Spatuloricaria terracanticum'' has been collected alongside several other species of fish, including ''

Apteronotus apurensis ''Apteronotus'' is a genus of weakly electric knifefish in the family Apteronotidae, distinguished by the presence of a tiny tail fin. This genus is restricted to tropical and subtropical South America (Amazon, Orinoco, Río de la Plata and ...

'', ''

Apteronotus galvisi ''Apteronotus galvisi'' is a species of ghost knifefish that was first described in a 2007 scientific paper. It is endemic to Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular r ...

'', ''

Bujurquina mariae ''Bujurquina'' is a genus of cichlid fish endemic to South America. Most species in the genus are restricted to the western Amazon Basin. The only exceptions are ''B. mariae'' from the Orinoco Basin, and ''B. oenolaemus'' and ''B. vittata'' from ...

'', ''

Chaetostoma formosae ''Chaetostoma formosae'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the basins of the Meta River and the Guaviare River in the Orinoco drainage in the departments of Meta and Casan ...

'', ''

Chaetostoma joropo ''Chaetostoma joropo'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Cusiana River basin in the Orinoco drainage in Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colom ...

'', ''

Creagrutus bolivari ''Creagrutus'' is a genus of characins found mostly in South America, with one species ''C. affinis'' extending into Panama in Central America.Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamil ...

'', ''

Farlowella mariaelenae ''Farlowella mariaelenae'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Venezuela where it is found in the Orinoco River basin and may occur in the coastal rivers draining into the Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer de ...

'', ''

Gephyrocharax valencia ''Gephyrocharax'' is a genus of characins found in South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and Panama.Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Stevardiinae Gill, 1858 (Characiformes: Ch ...

'', ''

Hemibrycon metae ''Hemibrycon'' is a genus of characins. They are mainly found in South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean), and ''H. dariensis'' of east Panama.Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily ...

'', '' Lamontichthys llanero'', and '' Odontostilbe splendida''. ''Spatuloricaria terracanticum'' was described in 2018 by Alejandro Londoño-Burbano (of the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in th ...

), Alexander Urbano-Bonilla (of the

Pontifical Xavierian University The Pontifical Xavierian University (in Spanish Pontificia Universidad Javeriana) is a private higher education institution founded in 1623. It is one of the oldest, most traditional, and prestigious Colombian universities, directed by the Soc ...

in Colombia), Yecid Rojas (of the

University of the Llanos The University of the Llanos ( es, Universidad de los Llanos), also known as Unillanos, is a national public university based in the city of Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a count ...

in Colombia), Hernando Ramírez-Gil (also of the University of the Llanos), and Saúl Prada-Pedreros (also of the Pontifical Xavierian University). Its

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''terracanticum'', is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

and reportedly translates to "earth song", referring to the traditional

work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

s of the

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

.Londoño-Burbano, Alejandro & Urbano-Bonillla, Alexander & Rojas, Yecid & Ramírez-Gil, Hernando & Prada-Pedreros, Saúl. (2018). A New Species of Spatuloricaria Schultz, 1944 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), from the Orinoco River Basin, Colombia. Copeia. 106. 611. 10.1643/CI-18-087.

References

Loricariini Taxa named by Alexander Urbano-Bonilla Taxa named by Saul Prada-Pedreros Fish described in 2018 Catfish of South America Fish of Colombia {{Loricariinae-stub