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Karl-Heinz Dau (1 Stamp)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6 - 6; Anal spines: 4 - 5; Anal soft rays: 8 - 11; Vertebrae: 41 - 43. Six species of Diplomystidae are currently recognized (Arratia, 1987; Azpelicueta, 1994a-b). Berra (2001) depicts the family distribution. Half of the species occur west of the Andes in south central Chile. The trans-Andean species are D. chilensis from rivers near Valparaíso and Santiago, D. nahuelbutaensis from the Bío Bío basin, and D. camposensis from the Valdivia region (Arratia, 1987). Three other species occur east of the Andes in southern Argentina. Arratia (1987) erected the genus Olivaichthys for the Argentinian specimens and Lundberg, et al (2004) follow Azpelicueta (1994a-b) and most subsequent authors who treat Olivaichthys as a synonym of Diplomystes. Habitat: The cis-Andean species are O. viedmensis from the Río Negro system, O. cuyanus from the Río Colorado and the Desaguadero-Salado basin, and O. mesembrinus known only from relatively few specimens from Chubut and Senguerr rivers (Azpelicueta, 1994a-b). Olivaichthys viedmensis has been taken from rivers near sea level to about 1,900 m (Azpelicueta, 1994a). Diet: Diplomystids are generalised carnivores that consume annelids, mollusks, and arthropods (Arratia, 1987; Azpelicueta & Gosztonyi, 1998).

Otuno

Diplomystes viedmensis

Diplomystidae

South America: Negro River and tributaries in Argentina. Type locality: Río Negro, Argentina, frente a Viedma.

32.5cm. (13ins)

20-24°C (67-75°f.)

6.0-7.0.

Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (09/2010).
Lundberg, J.G., T.M. Berra and J.P. Friel 2004 First description of small juveniles of the primitive catfish Diplomystes (Siluriformes: Diplomystidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 15(1): 71-82.