''Schizolecis guntheri'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

loricariid The Loricariidae is the largest family (biology), family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genus, genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South Am ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

(

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Siluriformes) and the only known member 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 "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

''Schizolecis''.

Distribution and habitat

This species occurs mainly in coastal rivers of the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and t ...

in southeastern and southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. These fish inhabit streams with rocky and sandy bottom, mostly in shallows and backwaters up to 30

centimetre 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Electromagnetic spectrum, measured by the Metre and its deriveds scales. The Microwave are in-between 1 meter to 1 millimeter. A centimetre (international spelling) or centimeter (American spellin ...

s (12 in) deep, with slow water flow.

Appearance and anatomy

''S. guntheri'' reaches a maximum length of SL in males and 3 cm (1.2 in) SL in females. Normally pigmented specimens of ''S. guntheri'' have a dark background color on the body and

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

, with some light spots and an unpigmented ventral body surface. These fish have been found in an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

form in their natural habitat.

Ecology

''S. guntheri'' forage mostly during the day, though some night activity has also been recorded. These fish graze on microscopic

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) are any of a large and diverse group of photosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms. The name is an informal term for a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from ...

, mostly diatoms and

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ( Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alg ...

growing on rocks and submerged vegetation. They occasionally take

chironomid The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many species ...

and simuliid

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

e. Before grazing on a patch with dense sediment, a fish makes wiggling head-down movements to dislodge sediment. When scraping algae off the substrate, it makes vigorous mouth movements, and moves by jerky movements probably related to its mouth alternating between grazing and attaching to the substrate. Grazing leaves characteristic, parallel and elongated marks on the substrate.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3764987 Otothyrinae Freshwater fish of Brazil Endemic fauna of Brazil Taxa named by Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro Fish described in 1918