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Allan James (1) Peru Aquarium Group (1) Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (3) Kiruya Momochi (3)

This genus is recognised by the flat head and large eyes that are set latterly on the head and their heavy body armour. The ventral region is also armored and you can sometimes identify a species by the pattern on the underbelly. In saying that the species in this genus are notoriously difficult to identify and most of the time you would need the location of the catchment area or even down to the river itself to pinpoint a certain species. Description: Vertebrae: 27. This species is distinguished from all congeners by having an elongated spot of black melanophores along the caudal-fin branched rays, not distinctly connected to the lanceolate plates at the base of the fin. The spot is extended over a larger number of lower-lobe rays than upper-lobe rays and along one-half to more than two-thirds of the ray length. Sexual Differences: Male urogenital papilla short and slender, covered by anterior flaplike anus. Males with patch of tightly arranged small odontodes oriented as a swirl, variably covering first to fourth plates of ventral series, lateral to urogenital papilla. Males with flaplike anus along posterior margin of pelvic spine variably developed; when present, short, weakly developed, restricted to basal one-third to half of spine. Female anus tubular, without separate urogenital papilla. In females, size and arrangement of odontodes on plates lateral to anus similar to adjacent plates, without distinct patch of differentially arranged odontodes. Female pelvic spine without flap of soft tissue on posterior surface. Aquarium Care: Will not bother other fish in the aquarium. They like to hang on to thin stalks of plants so they can see around it with their laterally located eyes. Provide shaded hiding areas in the tank with rocks or cave-like structures. Diet: Feed an all round diet but prefers a vegetable diet such as algae, spirulina tablets and cucumber/courgette.

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Loricariidae

South America: Amazon River basin. Type locality: Xeberos, upper Amazon River, Peru.

8.0cm. (3¼ins)

23-27°c (73-81°f.)

6.0-7.2.

Aquino, A.E. and S.A. Schaefer 2010 Systematics of the genus Hypoptopoma Günther, 1868 (Siluriformes, Loricariidae). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 336:1-110.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.