''Crossoloricaria'' is a

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 armored catfish 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 ...

with one species ranging into

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Taxonomy

''Crossloricaria'' is classified in the ''Pseudohemiodon'' group in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Loricariini Loricariinae is a subfamily of the family Loricariidae of catfish (order Siluriformes). This subfamily is divided into two tribes and about 30 genera. They are mainly native to freshwater habitats in South America, but there are also several spec ...

of the subfamily Loricariinae. This genus is poorly diagnosed and is in need of revision. Its only diagnostic character (incomplete abdominal cover consisting of a double median row of plates) is shared by two other representatives of the Pseudohemiodon group, '' Apistoloricaria'' and '' Rhadinoloricaria''. On top of this, ''C. rhami'' has a complete abdominal cover of plates, rendering this diagnostic feature invalid. ''Crossoloricaria'' also has some traits such as lip structure and

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprini ...

length that places it closer to '' Pseudohemiodon''.

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * '' Crossoloricaria bahuaja'' F. Chang & E. Castro, 1999 * '' Crossoloricaria cephalaspis'' Isbrücker, 1979 * '' Crossoloricaria rhami'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1983 * '' Crossoloricaria variegata'' (

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 ...

, 1879) * '' Crossoloricaria venezuelae'' ( L. P. Schultz, 1944)

Distribution and habitat

The species of ''Crossoloricaria'' are distributed in the northwestern part of

along the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

slope (in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

region (

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

), and 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 ...

system (

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 southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

). ''Crossoloricaria'' species occur over sandy substrates of larger rivers and their tributaries.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5029108 Loricariini Fish of South America Fish of the Amazon basin Freshwater fish genera Catfish genera Taxa named by Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker