''Aphanotorulus horridus'' 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

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

basin. The species reaches 35.5 cm (14 inches) SL. It is thought to be a facultative air-breather. ''A. horridus'' was originally described as ''Hypostomus horridus'' by

Rudolf Kner Rudolf Ignaz Kner (24 August 1810 – 27 October 1869) was an Austrian geologist, paleontologist, zoologist and ichthyologist. He also wrote some poems which were published by his brother-in-law K.A. Kaltenbrunner. Biography Kner was bor ...

in 1854, although it was transferred to the genus ''

Squaliforma ''Aphanotorulus'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to the Amazon, Orinoco, Essequibo and Jaguaribe basins in South America.Ray, C.K. & Armbruster, J.W. (2016): The genera ''Isorineloricaria'' and ''Aphanotorulus'' (Siluriformes: Loricariid ...

'' (now considered invalid) after the genus' designation by I. J. H. Isbrücker, I. Seidel, J. Michels, E. Schraml, and A. Werner in 2001. In 2004, Jonathan W. Armbruster classified the species within ''

Hypostomus ''Hypostomus'' is a genus of catfish in the family Loricariidae. They are native to tropical and subtropical South America. '' H. plecostomus'' is the popular freshwater aquarium fish formerly known as ''Plecostomus plecostomus''. The taxonomic ...

'' instead of ''Squaliforma''.Ray, C. K., & Armbruster, J. W. (2016). The genera Isorineloricaria and Aphanotorulus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) with description of a new species. ''Zootaxa'', ''4072''(5), 501–539. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4072.5.1 In 2016, following a review of ''

Isorineloricaria ''Isorineloricaria'' is a genus of catfish in the family Loricariidae from northwestern South America. They live in rivers and streams, typically with slow to moderately running water, in the Orinoco, Maracaibo, Magdalena and Guayas basins (one ...

'' and ''

Aphanotorulus ''Aphanotorulus'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to the Amazon, Orinoco, Essequibo and Jaguaribe basins in South America.Ray, C.K. & Armbruster, J.W. (2016): The genera ''Isorineloricaria'' and ''Aphanotorulus'' (Siluriformes: Loricar ...

'' by C. Keith Ray and Armbruster (both of Auburn University), the species was reclassified as a member of ''Aphanotorulus'', although

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.

still lists the species as ''Squaliforma horrida''. This 2016 review also found three other former ''Squaliforma'' species (''S. biseriata'', ''S. scopularia'', and ''S. virescens'') to be synonymous with ''A. horridus''. ''A. horridus'' sometimes appears in the aquarium trade, where it is typically referred to either as the long-head pleco or by one of two associated

L-number The L-number system is a semi-scientific classification system of catfish based on photographs of shipments of tropical catfish of the family Loricariidae published by the German aquarium magazine DATZ (Die Aquarien- und Terrarienzeitschrift (The ...

s, which are L-290 and L-291.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113549767 Loricariidae Fish described in 1854 Catfish of South America