''Rhamdia zongolicensis'' (common name: Zongolica catfish) is a species of
three-barbeled 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 ...
to
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.
Its
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
refers to
Zongolica
Zongolica is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located in the state's central Mountains region, about 100 km from the state capital at Xalapa. The municipality covers 63.34 km2 and, in 2020, ...
, the area in
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
state where it occurs. It is a
cave fish
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, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish, and ...
similar to ''
Rhamdia laticauda'' and ''
Rhamdia reddelli'',
and at times considered a
junior synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
...
of the former.
Habitat
''Rhamdia zongolicensis'' is only known to occur in a single cave, Cueva del Túnel (Cueva del Ostoc), where it lives in stagnant pools.
Description
''Rhamdia zongolicensis'' grows to at least about standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is ...
. It is related to the surface-dwelling '' Rhamdia laticauda'', considered to be its sister species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
. Because the surface species is nocturnal, and thereby adapted to darkness, the cave species shows only few new adaptations: elongated barbels and extreme ability to withstand starvation (at least seven months under experimental conditions). It also shows reduced pigmentation and smaller eyes.convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5463580
Heptapteridae
Cave fish
Freshwater fish of Mexico
Endemic fish of Mexico
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Fish described in 1993
Fauna of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca