Loricariinae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the family

Loricariidae Loricariidae is the largest family (biology), family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with over 90 genus, genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South A ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

(order Siluriformes). This subfamily is divided into two

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 ...

s and about 30

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. They are mainly native to freshwater habitats in South America, but there are also several species (in genera '' Crossoloricaria'', '' Dasyloricaria'', '' Fonchiiichthys'', ''

Rineloricaria ''Rineloricaria'' (from the Greek, ''rhinos'' meaning ''nose'', and the Latin, ''lorica'' meaning ''cuirass of leather'') is a genus of freshwater tropical catfish (order Siluriformes) belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are commonly calle ...

'', '' Spatuloricaria'', '' Sturisoma'' and '' Sturisomatichthys'') 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 a single (''Fonchiiichthys'') in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

.Angulo; Garita-Alvarado; Bussing; and López (2013).
Annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of continental and insular Costa Rica: additions and nomenclatural revisions.
'' Check List 9(5): 987–1019.

Taxonomy

Loricariinae was first described in 1831. Later, in 1979, many genera were described and Loricariinae was divided into four subfamilies: Loricariini, Harttiini, Farlowellini, and Acestridiini. Eventually, the genera of Acestridiini was included under

Hypoptopomatinae The Hypoptopomatinae are a subfamily of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Loricariidae, composed of 17 genera and approximately 80 species. This subfamily represents about one-tenth of all loricariid species. It has been divided into ...

and genera of Farlowellini was reclassified into Hartiini. This subfamily has been found to be

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. The most recent papers conclude that there are 30 or 31 genera; the status of ''Cteniloricaria'' is dubious; although recognized as a synonym of ''

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 ...

'' by some, this conclusion was reached without diagnosing the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of ''Cteniloricaria''.

Description

As loricariids, loricariinae species are characterized by a depressed body covered by bony plates, a unique pair of maxillary barbels, and modification of the mouth into a

suckermouth In fish, a suckermouth is a ventrally-oriented (inferior) mouth adapted for grazing on algae and small organisms that grow on submerged objects. All Loricariidae possess a suckermouth as do the cypriniform algae eaters of the genus '' Gyrinocheilu ...

. Members of the subfamily Loricariinae show a greater diversity of lip structures and shapes than other loricariids. Loricariines are characterized by a long and depressed

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

(rectangular cross-section) and by the absence of an

adipose fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...

. They also show dramatic variation in body shape, lip morphology and dentition. The sexual dimorphism is often pronounced and is expressed through the hypertrophy of

odontodes 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 th ...

on the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

rays, on the snout margin, and sometimes on the pre

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

area of mature males. Certain genera also show sexual differences in lip and tooth structures. The Harttiini are characterized by numerous and pedunculated teeth, a

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

with more branched rays, the absence of postorbital notches and predorsal keels, a rounded mouth, papillose lips weakly or not fringed, and short maxillary barbels. The Loricariini are characterized by a more important variation in lips and teeth shape, the frequent presence of postorbital notches and predorsal keels, longer maxillary barbels, and less numerous teeth and branched rays in the caudal fin.

Genera

Genera list based on Covain and Fisch-Muller (2007), except for ''Cteniloricaria''. *Tribe Loricariini **''Loricaria'' group ***''

Brochiloricaria ''Brochiloricaria'' is a small genus of armored catfishes native to South America. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Brochiloricaria chauliodon'' Isbrücker, 1979 * '' Brochiloricaria macrodon'' ( Kner, 1 ...

'' ***'' Loricaria'' ***'' Paraloricaria'' ***'' Proloricaria'' ***''

Ricola Ricola Ltd./Ricola AG is a Switzerland, Swiss manufacturer of Throat lozenge, cough drops, instant tea, tea bags, and Mint (candy), breath mints. The head office of Ricola is located in Laufen, Switzerland, Laufen, Basel-Country and has subsi ...

'' **''Loricariichthys'' group ***'' Furcodontichthys'' ***'' Hemiodontichthys'' ***'' Limatulichthys'' ***'' Loricariichthys'' ***'' Pseudoloricaria'' **''Pseudohemiodon'' group ***'' Apistoloricaria'' ***'' Crossoloricaria'' ***'' Dentectus'' ***'' Planiloricaria'' ***'' Pseudohemiodon'' ***'' Pyxiloricaria'' ***'' Reganella'' ***'' Rhadinoloricaria'' **''Rineloricaria'' group ***'' Dasyloricaria'' ***'' Fonchiiichthys'' ***'' Ixinandria'' ***''

'' ***'' Spatuloricaria'' *Tribe Harttiini **'' Aposturisoma'' **'' Cteniloricaria'' **''

Farlowella ''Farlowella'' is a genus of fish in the family Loricariidae native to South America. This genus is broadly distributed in Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná and coastal rivers of the Guyana Shield. It is absent from the Pacific slope of the Andes and fr ...

'' **''

'' **'' Harttiella'' **''

Lamontichthys ''Lamontichthys'' is a genus of Loricariidae, armored catfishes native to South America. Taxonomy The phylogenetics, phylogenetic position of ''Lamontichthys'' remains uncertain. It has been considered to be cladistics, sister to ''Harttia'', wh ...

'' **'' Metaloricaria'' **''

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 ...

'' **'' Sturisoma'' **'' Sturisomatichthys''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q137875 Loricariinae Fish of South America Fish subfamilies Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte