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he month of May 2013 takes us back to the South American family of the Doradidae and a quite pretty and sought after species; the "Dusky Doradid", Anadoras grypus.

Anadoras grypus

There are at this precise moment only 4 species in the Anadoras genera, namely our factsheet of the month A. grypus (Cope, 1872) from the Upper Amazon River basin in Peru, A. insculptus (Miranda Ribeiro, 1912) from Brazil and Argentina, A. regani (Steindachner, 1908) from the Amazon and Oyapock River basins and A. weddellii (Castelnau, 1855) from the Upper Mamoré, Paraguay and Pilcomayo River basins. Apart from A. weddellii and A. grypus the other two are uncommon in the hobby and are very rarely seen.

A. grypus and A. wendellii are similar but the later has plates formed in the caudal peduncle which A. grypus lacks.

 

 

Anadoras grypus: - close-up of Humeral Process.

 

Anadoras grypus: - close-up of caudal.

 

 

The maps show the area where A. grypus is from, in small streams tributary to the Ambyiacu, as well as the river itself, which empties into the Amazon near Pebas, in Eastern Ecuador, some distance east of the Napo (Type Locality).

Anadoras grypus is similar to Amblydoras nauticus but this species has a serrated dorsal fin ray against A. grypus which is smooth. There is also a difference in the colour patterns and the shape of the head fontanels. The bony plates are also smaller than on Amblydoras.”

 

 

Dusky Doradid

Doras grypus

Doradinae

South America: Upper Amazon River basin, Peru. Type locality: small streams tributary to the Ambyiacu, as well as the river itself, which empties into the Amazon near Pebas, in Eastern Ecuador, some distance east of the Napo.

15.0cm. (6ins)

22-26°C (71-79°F)

26 or 27 lateral scutes which are small. Has a modified caudal fulcra covering most of the peduncle above and below. Short adipose fin. The fontanel is D shaped.

In the aquarium you should provide hiding places as with most Dorads they like to hide out during the day and establish their own space. Provide some plants with overhead planting an advantage as they do prefer dimmer lighting in the tank. Generally peaceful with other placid species. As this species can grow moderately large you would need to house with same size species such as Cichlids and larger Characins as they could pick off smaller fish at night as this is, as most Dorads are, reclusive during daylight hours.

As yet unknown.

Tablet foods, frozen and live worms. Will also eat snails in the aquarium.

Anadoras: Ana = back; doras =  cuirass.

Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl 1985 Aquarien atlas. Band 2. Mergus, Verlag für Natur- und Heimtierkunde GmbH, Melle, Germany. 1216 p.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Catfish Study Group UK. 2002. Information Sheet No. 28.
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Photo Credits

© Danny Blundell