''Kronichthys subteres'' is a species of armored catfish

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

where it occurs in the

Ribeira de Iguape River The Ribeira de Iguape River (), or simply the Ribeira River (), is a river of Paraná (state), Paraná and São Paulo (state), São Paulo states in southeastern Brazil. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Iguape. The river is home to several end ...

basin. This species grows to a length of TL. ''Kronichthys subteres'' inhabits streams with rocky and sandy bottom. This species forages both during the day and at night, grazing on microscopic

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, mostly

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma'') is any member of a large group comprising several Genus, genera of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms make up a significant portion of Earth's B ...

s and green algae growing on rocks and submersed vegetation. They occasionally take

chironomid Chironomidae , commonly known as non-biting midges or chironomids , are a family of Nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the families Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Although many chironomid s ...

and simuliid

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e, as well as tiny

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s. Before grazing on a patch with dense sediment, the fish makes wiggling head-down movements which raise sediment, which is blown away by the water current. When grazing algae off the substrate, the fish makes vigorous mouth movements, and moves by jerky movements probably related to its mouth making alternate grazing and attaching to the substrate. ''K. subteres'' leaves conspicuous grazing marks on exposed rocks. These fish may re-graze a given spot by moving backwards.

References

* Neoplecostominae Suckermouth catfish of Brazil Endemic fish of Brazil Environment of Paraná (state) Environment of São Paulo (state) Taxa named by Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro Fish described in 1908 {{Neoplecostominae-stub