''Apistoloricaria'' is a genus of 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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus name comes from the Greek ''apisto'' meaning ''uncertain'' and the Latin ''lorica'' or ''loricare'' meaning ''

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

'' or ''corslet'' of leather. ''Apistoloricaria'' is not well diagnosed and upon further examination, may prove to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''

Rhadinoloricaria ''Rhadinoloricaria'' is a genus of catfish endemic to South America. It was considered to be monotypic until the 2020 discovery of a second species. ''Rhadinoloricaria'' is part of the ''Pseudohemiodon'' group of the tribe Loricariini in the sub ...

''.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * ''

Apistoloricaria condei ''Apistoloricaria condei'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Ecuador where it is found in the Napo River basin. This species can be found in turbid and dark waters, in moderately fast flowing streams, between deep; no submerged vegetat ...

'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1986 * ''

Apistoloricaria laani ''Apistoloricaria laani'' is a species of Loricariidae, armored catfish endemism, endemic to Colombia where it is found in the Meta River basin. This species grows to a length of fish measurement, SL. Etymology The catfish is named in honor of ...

'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1988 * ''

Apistoloricaria listrorhinos ''Apistoloricaria listrorhinos'' is a species of armored catfish that is endemic to Colombia, where it is found in the Metica River basin. This species grows to a standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various ...

'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1988 * ''

Apistoloricaria ommation ''Apistoloricaria ommation'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the ...

'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1988

Distribution and habitat

Representatives of this genus are distributed in the upper

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

drainages, along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

slope of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Appearance and ecology

These fish range from 10–14 centimetres (4–5.5 in) SL. In members of this genus and other closely related genera, the body is strongly depressed and the pelvic fins are used for locomotion, enabling these fish to appear to "walk" on the substrate.

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

is apparent through differentiated lip structure. The lip surfaces of the male are rather papillose while those of the female are filamentous. These species are abdomino-lip brooders; eggs are laid in a single layered mass, and are attached to the surface of the lower lip and abdomen of the male.

References

Loricariini Fish of the Amazon basin Catfish genera Taxa named by Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker Taxa named by Han Nijssen Freshwater fish genera {{Loricariinae-stub