''Rineloricaria'' (from the Greek, ''rhinos'' meaning ''nose'', and the Latin, ''lorica'' meaning ''

cuirass A cuirass ( ; ; ) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The term probably originates from the original material, leather, from the Old French word and the Latin word . The us ...

of leather'') 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 freshwater tropical

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 Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Siluriformes) belonging to 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 ...

. They are commonly called whiptail catfish because of the long filament that grows out of the tip of the

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 ...

that is characteristic of the genus. With the exception of ''Rineloricaria altipinnis, R. altipinnis'' from Panama, they are native to the rivers of northern and central South America. Some species are regularly seen in the aquarium trade.

Taxonomy

This genus was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1862, with ''R. lima'' as the type species. This genus is by far one of the most speciose of the subfamily Loricariinae, containing approx 60 species. On the other hand, it is one of the least resolved genera. In 2008, 14 new species were added to this genus. ''Hemiloricaria'', ''Fonchiiichthys'', and ''Leliella'' been variably considered synonym (taxonomy), synonyms of ''Rineloricaria''; these genera were erected to account for differences in sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic traits. However, the traits used to diagnose these genera have been thought to be insufficient.

Species

There are currently 67 recognized species in this genus: * ''Rineloricaria aequalicuspis'' Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis & Alexandre Rodrigues Cardoso, A. R. Cardoso, 2001 * ''Rineloricaria altipinnis'' (Charles Marcus Breder Jr., Breder, 1925) * ''Rineloricaria anhaguapitan'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria anitae'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria aurata'' (Joachim Knaack, Knaack, 2003) * ''Rineloricaria baliola'' Mónica Sonia Rodriguez, M. S. Rodriguez & Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria beni'' (Nathan Everett Pearson, N. E. Pearson, 1924) * ''Rineloricaria cacerensis'' (Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro, A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1912) * ''Rineloricaria cachivera'' Alexander Urbano-Bonilla, Urbano-Bonilla, Alejandro Londoño-Burbano, Londoño-Burbano & Carvalho, 2023 * ''Rineloricaria cadeae'' (Reinhold Friedrich Hensel, R. F. Hensel, 1868) * ''Rineloricaria capitonia'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria caracasensis'' (Pieter Bleeker, Bleeker, 1862) * ''Rineloricaria castroi'' Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker, Isbrücker & Han Nijssen, Nijssen, 1984 * ''Rineloricaria catamarcensis'' (Carlos Berg, C. Berg (:es:Carlos Berg, es), 1895) * ''Rineloricaria cubataonis'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1907) * ''Rineloricaria daraha'' Lúcia Helena Rapp Py-Daniel, Rapp Py-Daniel & Ilana Fichberg, Fichberg, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria eigenmanni'' (Jacques Pellegrin, Pellegrin, 1908) * ''Rineloricaria fallax'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1915) * ''Rineloricaria felipponei'' (Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1943) * ''Rineloricaria formosa'' Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker, Isbrücker & Han Nijssen, Nijssen, 1979 * ''Rineloricaria hasemani'' Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker, Isbrücker & Han Nijssen, Nijssen, 1979 * ''Rineloricaria henselii'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1907) * ''Rineloricaria heteroptera'' Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker, Isbrücker & Han Nijssen, Nijssen, 1976 * ''Rineloricaria hoehnei'' (Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro, A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1912) * ''Rineloricaria isaaci'' Mónica Sonia Rodriguez, M. S. Rodriguez & Amalia Maria Miquelarena, Miquelarena, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria jaraguensis'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1909) * ''Rineloricaria jubata'' (George Albert Boulenger, Boulenger, 1902) * ''Rineloricaria jurupari'' (Alejandro Londoño, Londoño & Alexander Urbano, Urbano, 2018) * ''Rineloricaria konopickyi'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1879) * ''Rineloricaria kronei'' (Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro, A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1911) * ''Rineloricaria lanceolata'' (Albert Günther, Günther, 1868) (Chocolate-colored catfish) * ''Rineloricaria langei'' Leonardo Ferreira da Silva Ingenito, Ingenito, Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, Luiz Fernando Duboc, Duboc & Vinícius Abilhoa, Abilhoa, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria latirostris'' (George Albert Boulenger, Boulenger, 1900) * ''Rineloricaria lima'' (Rudolf Kner, Kner, 1853) * ''Rineloricaria longicauda'' Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis, 1983 * ''Rineloricaria maacki'' Leonardo Ferreira da Silva Ingenito, Ingenito, Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, Luiz Fernando Duboc, Duboc & Vinícius Abilhoa, Abilhoa, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria magdalenae'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1879) * ''Rineloricaria malabarbai'' Mónica Sonia Rodriguez, M. S. Rodriguez & Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria maquinensis'' Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis & Alexandre Rodrigues Cardoso, A. R. Cardoso, 2001 * ''Rineloricaria melini'' (Otto Schindler (zoologist), O. Schindler, 1959) * ''Rineloricaria microlepidogaster'' (Charles Tate Regan, Regan, 1904) * ''Rineloricaria microlepidota'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1907) * ''Rineloricaria misionera'' Mónica Sonia Rodriguez, M. S. Rodriguez & Amalia Maria Miquelarena, Miquelarena, 2005 * ''Rineloricaria morrowi'' Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1940 * ''Rineloricaria nigricauda'' (Charles Tate Regan, Regan, 1904) * ''Rineloricaria nudipectoris'' (Mejia, Ferrar & Buckup, 2023) * ''Rineloricaria osvaldoi'' Ilana Fichberg, Fichberg & Carine Cavalcante Chamon, Chamon, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria pareiacantha'' (Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1943) * ''Rineloricaria parva'' (George Albert Boulenger, Boulenger, 1895) * ''Rineloricaria pentamaculata'' Francisco Langeani-Neto, Langeani & Renato Braz de Araujo, R. B. de Araujo, 1994 * ''Rineloricaria phoxocephala'' (Carl H. Eigenmann, C. H. Eigenmann & Rosa Smith Eigenmann, R. S. Eigenmann, 1889) * ''Rineloricaria platyura'' (Johannes Peter Müller, J. P. Müller & Franz Hermann Troschel, Troschel, 1849) * ''Rineloricaria quadrensis'' Roberto Esser dos Reis, R. E. dos Reis, 1983 * ''Rineloricaria quilombola'' Chamon & Fichberg, 2022 * ''Rineloricaria reisi'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria rodriquezae'' Costa-Silva, Oliveira & Costa, 2021 * ''Rineloricaria sanga'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria setepovos'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria sneiderni'' (Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1944) * ''Rineloricaria steindachneri'' (Charles Tate Regan, Regan, 1904) * ''Rineloricaria stellata'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria stewarti'' (Carl H. Eigenmann, C. H. Eigenmann, 1909) * ''Rineloricaria strigilata'' (Reinhold Friedrich Hensel, R. F. Hensel, 1868) * ''Rineloricaria teffeana'' (Franz Steindachner, Steindachner, 1879) * ''Rineloricaria thrissoceps'' (Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1943) * ''Rineloricaria tropeira'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria wolfei'' Henry Weed Fowler, Fowler, 1940 * ''Rineloricaria zaina'' Miriam Sant'Anna Ghazzi, Ghazzi, 2008 * ''Rineloricaria zawadzkii'' Silva, Costa & Oliveira, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The genus is widely distributed on nearly the entire subcontinent, from Costa Rica to Argentina, on both slopes of the Andes. ''Rineloricaria'' species are found in a large variety of habitats, including large rivers, streams, and lagoons, associated with bottoms consisting of sand or rocks, sometimes found in marginal vegetation. They are also found to tolerate environments with a wide temperature gradient. ''Rineloricaria'' have an adaptive capacity enabling many species to exploit the most varied habitats; some species, such as ''Rineloricaria strigilata, R. strigilata'', have been caught in highly polluted bodies of water and represent some of the main components of the ichthyological diversity in such habitats.

Appearance and anatomy

The average length of a ''Rineloricaria catfish'' is about long. The fish are long, slender, have no visible barbel (anatomy), barbels, an erect dorsal fin, a very thin caudal fin, caudal peduncle, and a narrow face. The coloration of the fishes is usually light brown with darker blotches, and have a dark dorsal fin. They are also covered with bony plates and have a sucker disk mouth, as is common with most fish in the family

Reproduction

Sexual dimorphism includes hypertrophied development of the odontodes along the sides of the head, on the pectoral fin, pectoral spines and rays, and predorsal area of mature males. Several species also show hypertrophied development of the odontodes on the entire caudal peduncle. In males, the pectoral fin spine is often thick, short, and curved when compared to the female. ''Rineloricaria'' are cavity brooders. Numerous egg (biology), eggs (often more than 100) are laid attached to one another in single layer masses on the cavity floor, and are brooded by males. Rineloricaria exhibit high levels of karyotypic diversity with chromosome numbers ranging from 36 to 70.

References