Description:
Caudal peduncle comparatively deep (19.3–23.8%
SL); body and fins dark, with darker dots especially
on fins. Habitat: This species occurs
in the Amazon river basin in Peru (Ortega et al. 2012).
Carvalho et al. (2009) found it in a stream of the
Upper Yuruá River. Its type locality is the
Ucayali River in Pucallpa, Peru (Reis 1997). Unlike
all other genera of subfamily Callichthyinae, the
species of Lepthoplosternum are absent in the
northern portion of the South American continent,
north of the Rio Amazonas. The species are found in
the upper Rio Amazonas in Peru (L. altamazonicum),
middle Rio Madeira and the Madre de Dios, Peru (L.
beni), Rio Paraguay (L. pectorale), and
in the laguna dos Patos drainage (L. tordilho)
in southern Brazil (Roberto E.Reis). Aquarium
Care: Peaceful species which will do well
in a planted tank with free swimming place. They can
be quite easily housed in your planted community tank
as they don't grow as large as thoracata or
littorale and don't show any aggressive tendencies.
Reproduction: This small species
is a bubble-nester, where the female deposits her
eggs in floating plant material or a floating polystyrene
lid. Will attempt to spawn in a community setup, but
if they do it would be a good idea to move the pair
to their own breeding tank to make sure that the spawning
is successful, in that the fry will survive the attentions
of the rest of the tank inmates. Males have thicker
pectoral spnes. To read a report on breeding this
genera you can go to the breeding article
section for an indepth look at "how to do it".
Diet: As with most "Hoplo's" a
good varied diet of frozen, live and a good quality
flake food. It will eat most things given and of course
keeping up the water changes.
Common
Name:
None
Synonyms:
None
Family:
Callichthyidae
Distribution:
South America:
Upper Amazon River drainage in Peru; range extended
to the area of confluence of the Rio Solimões
and Rio Japurá, Brazil. Type locality:
Peru: Pucallpa: Río Ucayali.
Size:
5.0cm (2ins)
Temp:
23-25°C (73-77°F)
p.H.
6.5-7.5.
Reference:
Ferraris, C.J. Jr.,
2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes:
Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary
types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628. Hidalgo del Aguila, M. & Chocano, L.
2016. Lepthoplosternum altamazonicum. The IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species 2016. Reis, R.E., 1998. Systematics, biogeography,
and the fossil record of the Callichthyidae: a review
of the available data. p. 351-362. In L.R. Malabarba,
R.E. Reis, R.P. Vari, Z.M.S. Lucena and C.A.S. Lucena
(eds.) Phylogeny and classification of neotropical
fishes. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. Reis, R.E. and C.C. Kaefer, 2005.
Two new species of the neotropical catfish genus Lepthoplosternum
(Ostariophysi: Siluriformes: Callichthyidae). Copeia
2005(4):724-731.
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