''Kronichthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of armored catfishes

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The genus is named in honor of naturalist-archaeologist Ricardo Krone (1861-1917), who collected the type species specimen.

Species

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

Kronichthys heylandi ''Kronichthys heylandi'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Brazil where it occurs in coastal streams between Santos and Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the sta ...

'' ( Boulenger, 1900) * ''

Kronichthys lacerta ''Kronichthys lacerta'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with o ...

'' (

Nichols Nichols may refer to: People *Nichols (surname) * Nichol, a surname Places Canada * Nichols Islands, Nunavut United States * Nichols, California, an unincorporated community * Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, California * Nichols, Connecticut * N ...

, 1919) * ''

Kronichthys subteres ''Kronichthys subteres'' is a species of armored catfish endemic to Brazil where it occurs in the Ribeira de Iguape River basin. This species grows to a length of TL. ''K. subteres'' inhabits streams with rocky and sandy bottom. This species ...

'' A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1908

Description

''Kronichthys'' species are small, cylindrical fishes similar to the hypoptopomatine '' Schizolecis''. The color pattern is dark brown with a slight mottling or four dorsal saddles, and the abdomen mostly white. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

is short and the

adipose fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

is small.

References

Loricariidae Fish of South America Endemic fauna of Brazil Catfish genera Taxa named by Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro Freshwater fish genera {{Loricariidae-stub