''Sturisomatichthys'' 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 ...

Species

There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sturisomatichthys aureus'' * '' Sturisomatichthys citurensis'' (

Meek Meekness is an attribute of human nature and behavior that has been defined as an amalgam of righteousness, inner humility, and patience. Meekness has been contrasted with humility alone insomuch as humility simply refers to an attitude towards o ...

Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...

, 1913) *'' Sturisomatichthys dariense'' *'' Sturisomatichthys festivum'' *'' Sturisomatichthys frenatum'' *'' Sturisomatichthys guaitipan'' *'' Sturisomatichthys kneri'' * '' Sturisomatichthys leightoni'' ( Regan, 1912) *''

Sturisomatichthys panamense ''Sturisomatichthys panamense'' is a species of armored catfish native to Caribbean-slope rivers of Colombia, as well as Pacific-slope rivers of Ecuador and Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America ...

'' *'' Sturisomatichthys reinae'' Londoño-Burbano & R. E. dos Reis, 2019 * '' Sturisomatichthys tamanae'' ( Regan, 1912) *'' Sturisomatichthys varii''

Distribution and habitat

The genus ''Sturisomatichthys'' is distributed in the northwestern part of

, on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

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 ...

. The species appear to occupy the same ecological niche as those in ''

Sturisoma ''Sturisoma'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to Central and South America. Taxonomy ''Sturisoma'' has been shown to be sister to ''Farlowella''. Species There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sturisoma barbatum' ...

''.

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 ...

and

reproductive biology Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Reproductive biology includes a wide number of fields: * Reproductive systems * Endocrinology * Sexual development (Puberty) * Sexual maturity * Reproduction * Fertility H ...

of ''Sturisomatichthys'' similar to ''

''. ''Sturisomatichthys'' is distinguished from ''Sturisoma'' primarily by the absence of a

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

. Only one species, ''S. citurensis'', from Panama, seems to be significantly different from all congeneric species in having an abdominal plate cover consisting of small platelets without any particular organization. Other species may represent a species complex with a short snout as in the genus ''

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 ...

'' with reference to the representatives of the ''F. curtirostra'' group. The weakness of this diagnostic feature could lead to the

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Sturisomatichthys'' with ''Sturisoma''. ''Sturisomatichthys'' species grow to about in length.

References

Harttiini Fish of South America Fish of Central America Catfish genera Taxa named by Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker Taxa named by Han Nijssen Freshwater fish genera {{Loricariinae-stub