''Lamontichthys'' 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 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

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

position of ''Lamontichthys'' remains uncertain. It has been considered to be

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to ''

Harttia ''Harttia'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to South America. Etymology The genus name comes from Charles Frederick Hartt (1840–1878), a geologist, paleontologist and naturalist, who collected the many specimens during the Thayer Exp ...

'', whereas ''Lamontichthys'' shows much more similarities with ''Pterosturisoma microps'' of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''

Pterosturisoma ''Pterosturisoma microps'' is the only species of the monotypic genus ''Pterosturisoma'', a genus of the family (biology), family Loricariidae of catfish (order (biology), order Siluriformes). This species is endemism, endemic to Peru where it i ...

'', which only differs from ''Lamontichthys'' by the number of pectoral fin rays.

Species

There are currently six recognized species in this genus: * '' Lamontichthys avacanoeiro'' de Carvalho Paixão & Toledo-Piza, 2009 * '' Lamontichthys filamentosus'' ( La Monte, 1935) * '' Lamontichthys llanero'' Taphorn & Lilyestrom, 1984 * '' Lamontichthys maracaibero'' Taphorn & Lilyestrom, 1984 * '' Lamontichthys parakana'' de Carvalho Paixão & Toledo-Piza, 2009 * '' Lamontichthys stibaros'' Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1978

Distribution and habitat

''Lamontichthys'' is distributed in the northwestern part of

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 ...

River drainages, and in the

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. Species in this genus occupy the same

ecological niche In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of Resource (biology), resources an ...

as those of ''Harttia''. They mainly live in the mainstream of rivers, on rocky and sandy bottoms.

Description

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 ...

in ''Lamontichthys'' includes hypertrophied

odontode Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They consist of a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel, a structure similar to t ...

s on the

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectora ...

spines in mature males. In all species of ''Lamontichthys'', there is one pectoral fin spine and seven pectoral fin rays on each fin, as opposed to the rest of Loricariinae species which have one pectoral fin spine and only six pectoral fin rays.

Ecology

''Lamontichthys'' is an open brooder; eggs are laid on an open surface such as rocks, submerged wood or plants, and are generally exposed to the current. Females lay a few large-sized (1.4–1.8

millimetre 330px, Different lengths as in respect of the electromagnetic spectrum, measured by the metre and its derived scales. The microwave is between 1 metre to 1 millimetre. The millimetre (American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, i ...

s or .056–.071 in in diameter) yellowish eggs during each spawning event.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6431417 Harttiini Catfish of South America Fish of the Amazon basin Freshwater fish of Venezuela Freshwater fish of Ecuador Catfish genera Freshwater fish genera