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FACTSHEETS: February 2024 - no. 332

Rineloricaria morrowi Fowler, 1940

enry Weed Fowler was an eminent Ichthyologist who was one of the founder members of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and later briefly served as the society's president (1927-1928). He traveled to the interior of Bolivia, alongside collogues in 1936-1937. As an aside, William C. Morrow took an expedition of his own to the Ucayali River basin of Peru in 1937 and collected this species which he deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Fowler wrote an article named "A Collection of Fishes obtained by William C Morrow in the Ucayali River basin in Peru" and named three species of Rineloricaria, one to Morrow and the other two who accompanied him on the trip, Thomas W. Wolfe (Rineloricaria wolfei), and Robert T. Petley (Rineloricaria petleyi) which was removed from synonymy with Limatulichthys griseus by Isbrücker in 2001 and is now Limatulichthys petleyi (Fowler, 1940).

Rineloricaria morrowi - showing the yellow fins to blend in with the substrate.

Rineloricaria morrowi - showing the yellow fins blending in with the substrate.

The Rineloricaria genus is part of a group alongside the Dasyloricaria genera known as the Rineloricaria group. The Dasyloricaria genera have sexual dimorphism similar to that of Rineloricaria, including hypertrophied odontodes forming brushes on the lateral surfaces of the head in mature males. The Rineloricaria genus, is by far the most speciose in Loricariinae, and is widely distributed on nearly the entire subcontinent, from Costa Rica to Argentina, on both slopes of the Andes. The species inhabit an extremely diverse array of environments. The 64 described species of Rineloricaria (as of 2024) are not the easiest to identify as location helps and also markings go a long way to identify any chosen species.

Rineloricaria group. (from Covain, R. & Muller-Fisch, S. 2007. The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae
(Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis.

18a. - Without a secondary structure in abdominal cover; abdominal cover weekly organised in rows; predorsal keels [ah] more or less pronounced; species of medium size (generally <20cm) Rineloricaria.
18b. - With a secondary structure on abdominal cover consisting in double median row of plates organised in chevrons [ai]; predorsal keels; [ah] strong; species of large size (generally <25cm) Dasyloricaria.

Spatuloricaria appeared at the base of the Rineloricaria and Loricaria groups, and because these genera share similar lip structures, Covain & Muller-Fisch (2007) followed Isbrücker (1979) by assigning them to the Rineloricaria group of the Loricariini.

Distrbution: South America: Ucayali River basin, Peru. Type locality: Ucayali River basin, Contamana, Peru.

This species occurs in the Amazon river basin in Peru (Ortega et al. 2012). It has been recorded in the Inambari River, in Mazuko (Tambopata), in Madre de Dios (Palacios and Ortega 2009), and the Ucayali River basin (Núñez-Rodríguez 2014). Correa and Ortega (2010) reported four specimens of this taxon during the dry period during their collecting effort: two in the locality of Pampachica and two in the Puerto Almendras in the Lower Nanay river (tributary of the Amazon river), close to the city of Iquitos (between 84 and 92 m asl), in the San Juan Bautista district. Its type locality is Contamana, in the Ucayali River basin, Peru (Fowler 1940). It occurs at elevations between 80 m and 500 m.

Isbrücker & Nijssen (1976a) and Isbrücker (1981a) proposed the revalidation of Hemiloricaria Bleecker, 1862 (type species: Hemiloricaria caracasensis), but they finally left it in the synonymy of Rineloricaria because of the lack of sufficient features to split these two genera. In 2001, Isbrücker et al. revalidated Hemiloricaria and created two new genera: Fonchiiichthys (type species: Loricaria uracantha) and Leliella (type species: Rineloricaria heteroptera) on the basis of subtle differences in the sexual dimorphism. Moreover, as specified by Isbrücker & Nijssen (1976a: pp. 110–111) in the description of R. heteroptera: “As in Spatuloricaria Schultz, 1944 it shows strong secondary sexual dimorphism: males develop ‘bristles’ along sides of snout, usually also on dorsum of pectoral fin spine and rays, and often dorsum of head, on post-occipital and predorsal scutes. There are specific differences in the development of male bristles”.

Following this interpretation, the characters given to define Leliella and Fonchiiichthys can be regarded as species specific characters. Herein, Hemiloricaria, Leliella, and Fonchiiichthys are considered as synonyms of Rineloricaria for lack of sufficient diagnostic features (Covain, R. & Muller-Fisch, S. 2007).

Common Name

Yellow suckermouth catfish

Synonyms

Hemiloricaria morrowi

Family

Loricariidae

Subfamily

Loricariinae

Distribution

South America: Ucayali River basin, Peru. Type locality: Ucayali River basin, Contamana, Peru.

Size

16.5cm. (6½ins)

Temp.

22-26°c (71-79°f)

p.H.

6.2-7.2.

Characteristics

Dorsal, 1, 7 spine. Anal fin. 1, 5, spine. Terminally flexible; least depth of caudal peduncle 1½ in eye; caudal to end of lower lobe 1 in head. Ventral rays 1, 5, spine permanently flexible. Without a secondary structure in abdominal cover; abdominal cover weekly organised in rows; predorsal keels [ah] more or less pronounced; species of medium size.

Colouration

Colour in alcohol light brown above with 6 dark cross bands on back, nearly black; first narrow in front base of dorsal; second broadest and pressed anal. Iris whitish, brown above, disk pale or whitish, front upper edge dark brown. Ends of teeth more or less reddish brown. Entire under surface of body immaculate and nearly white. Dorsal membranes transparent, each ray with 5 to 10 dark brown spots. Anal membranes transparent, with blackish subterminam blotch on rays and a few other obscure brown spots. Caudal whitish, hind border and base broadly blackish, with some obscure brown spots in pale area. Pectoral membranes brown, and many crowded brown spots in axil. Ventral pale with several obscure brown spots on each ray.

Aquarium Care & Compatibility

As with all Rineloricaria provide long leaved plants or bamboo stalks for them to hang on to. Also include rocks and bogwood into the aquarium with a sand substrate. Provide some pvc piping for breeding purposes. A good community tank fish if kept with non aggressive species.

Reproduction

The Rineloricaria species are usually cave spawners, where the female will place their eggs after the male has cleaned inside. The male will then guard and fan the eggs until hatching. The eggs will hatch in 4-5 days whereas the male can now be removed. More breeding information can be found here in the articles breeding section

Sexual differences

Mature males develop odontotes on the head and pectoral spines, which are lacking in females.

Diet

Omnivore. Vegetable food such as cucumber and other various foods such as tablet, flake and frozen.

Glossary of Terms

Abdomen: Belly, the ventral side of the fish surrounding the cavity containing the digestive and reproductive organs.
Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Caudal fin: The tail.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Pectoral fin: The paired fins just behind the head.

Etymology

Rineloricaria: The genus name meaning rine-rasp, referring to sharp bristles on sides of snout (of males); Loricaria, genus in which type species, R. lima, had originally been described.
morrowi: The specific name morrowi: for William Morrow, who collected this fish.

References

Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl, 1991. Aquarien atlas. Bd. 3. Melle: Mergus, Verlag für Natur-und Heimtierkunde, Germany. 1104 p.
Chuctaya, J., Sarmiento, J. & Carvajal, F. 2016. Rineloricaria morrowi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.
Covain, R. & Muller-Fisch, S. 2007. The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2003. Loricariidae - Loricariinae (Armored catfishes). p. 330-350. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2011. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version.

IUCN Red List

This species is listed as Least Concern because is widely distributed, is locally abundant and there are no major threats affecting it (2014).

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ScotCat Sources

Etymology-genus

Etymology-specific name

Other Sources

Fishbase

Catalog of Fishes

GBIF

FishNet2

iNaturalist

IUCN