''Peckoltia pankimpuju'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of armored
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 ...
from 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 ...
, native to the
Marañón River in the upper
Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
of
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
.
It is commonly called the coal pleco, Peruvian lyre-tail, and L350 under the
L-number code.
It reaches up to about in length.
[
This species, '' Panaque bathyphilus'', '' Panaqolus nix'', '' Loricaria spinulifera'' and '' L. pumila'' are the only loricariid catfish species known to occur in a deep water form with reduced pigment and eyes (similar to ]cavefish
Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, Troglomorphism, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreat ...
), and another "normal" form in shallower waters.[ It is speculated that this may serve as an early warning system against the large predatory catfish that also roam their habitat. Positioned with the head towards the water current, as typical of loricariid catfish, the long tail streamers of ''P. pankimpuju'' are the first to be contacted by a large predator that hunts against the current, perhaps allowing it to escape.][
]
References
Ancistrini
Freshwater fish of Peru
Fish described in 2008
{{Hypostominae-stub