''Sturisoma'' 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 armored catfishes native to Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Taxonomy

''Sturisoma'' has been shown to be

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to ''

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 ...

''.

Species

There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sturisoma barbatum'' ( Kner, 1853) * '' Sturisoma brevirostre'' ( C. H. Eigenmann & R. S. Eigenmann, 1889) * '' Sturisoma caquetae'' (

Henry Weed Fowler Henry Weed Fowler (March 23, 1878 – June 21, 1965) was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Philadelphia, Holmesburg, Pennsylvania. He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan. He joined the Academy of Natural Sciences in Ph ...

, 1945) * ''

Sturisoma graffini ''Sturisoma graffini'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Madre de Dios River basin in Peru. It was described in 2018 by Alejandro Londoño-Burbano of the Federal University o ...

'' Londoño-Burbano, 2018 * '' Sturisoma guentheri'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Sturisoma lyra'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Sturisoma monopelte'' Fowler, 1914 * '' Sturisoma nigrirostrum'' Fowler, 1940 * '' Sturisoma reisi'' Londoño-Burbano and Britto, 2022Londoño-Burbano, Alejandro & Britto, Marcelo. (2022). A new species of Sturisoma Swainson, 1838 (Loricariidae: Loricariinae) from the Madeira River basin, with a discussion of historical biogeography of western Amazonas and Paraguay River basins. Journal of fish biology. 102. 10.1111/jfb.15251. * '' Sturisoma robustum'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Sturisoma rostratum'' (

Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1829) * '' Sturisoma tenuirostre'' (

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1910)

Distribution

The species of the genus ''Sturisoma'' are widely distributed on both slopes of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, 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

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, and

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

basins.

Description

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

includes hypertrophied

odontode 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 t ...

s on the sides of the head of the male.

Ecology

Sturisoma inhabit gently to swiftly flowing white waters where submerged wood is abundant in the main flow of rivers. ''Sturisoma'' species are open brooders.

References

Fish of South America Fish of the Amazon basin Freshwater fish genera Catfish genera Taxa named by William Swainson {{Loricariinae-stub