''Farlowella vittata'' is a species of armored catfish native to the

Orinoco River 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 ...

basin of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. This species grows to a length of SL.

Breeding

The female lays the eggs on a surface during the night and the male fertilizes them. The male then stays near the eggs to protect them from predators to and ensure fungus does not grow on the eggs. By day 3 the fry can be seen moving within the eggs and by day 5 the fry are clearly visible as fish. By day 6 the eggs start to hatch and all have hatched by day 9. The fry are very small, and because this catfish is a limnovore, in an aquarium the fry need a well planted set up in order to get the amount of algae needed for survival and growth.

References

vittata Freshwater fish of Colombia Freshwater fish of Venezuela Fish described in 1942 {{Loricariinae-stub