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Haakon Haagensen (1) Mark Henry Sabaj (1) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (2)

Description: Pseudancistrus sidereus is diagnosed by a unique modification of the ventral plates on the caudal peduncle. In loricariids, the plates of the ventral row on the caudal peduncle are typically bent at an approximately 90° angle to follow the contour of the body. The bend is often the site of a slight keel formed from one or more rows of slightly longer odontodes. In P. sidereus, the keel is accentuated by having the dorsal laminae of the plates strongly concave. Although some loricariids may have the dorsal laminae slightly concave, it is much more pronounced in P. sidereus. It can be separated from all other species of the Ancistrini by the presence of the keel mentioned above and by the presence of a single large white to yellow spot located at the center of the posterior lateral plates. The only species with a similar coloration are some Hypancistrus and some Panaque, both of which have far fewer than 25 teeth per jaw ramus (vs. much more than 25 teeth), some other species of Pseudancistrus which have hypertrophied odontodes along the snout in males and females (vs. no hypertrophied snout odontodes), and have the dorsal fin reaching at least the preadipose plate when depressed (vs. about two plates anterior to preadipose plate); and some Hemiancistrus and Peckoltia which generally have the spots much more diffuse (vs. borders of spots distinct) and have the dorsal fin reaching at least the preadipose plate when depressed (vs. about two plates anterior to preadipose plate). Aquarium Care: The Pseudancistrus/Stellantia genera are not the easiest to maintain in the aquarium as they will need pristine water conditions with well filtered water which should not be too hard. Warm water should be the norm. Adult males are very territorial and will not get on with other large Loricariid catfish. Sexual Differences: Males have a broad head and posses long bristles along the edge of the snout. Diet: Aufwuch grazer, mainly vegetarian, with lettuce, spinach, cucumber and courgette (zucchini), vegetarian flake and tablets. Will eat other foods also such as insect larvae, zooplankton and soft wood but will need to be kept on a mainly green diet. Etymology: The genus name Stellantia: An abstract, feminine noun modified from the Latin adjective stellans for starry in reference to the dark body with white to yellow spots which appear like a field of stars, a feature that inspired the species epithet as well. Stellantia requires a change of ending for the single species in the genus: Stellantia siderea. The species name siderea: from the Latin siderea for starry. Named because the dark background makes the white to gold spots look like stars. Remarks: Due to the paper by Armbruster, J. W., & Lujan, N. K. (2024) the genus name has now been changed from Pseudancistrus to Stellantia and the specific name to siderea. Hypostominae tribe-level taxonomy is revised with new recognition and cladistic diagnoses of previously proposed family-level names for the Acanthicus (Acanthicini), Chaetostoma (Chaetostomatini), and Hemiancistrus (Spectracanthicini) clades. This species can still be found on some online searches as Pseudancistrus sidereus.

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Pseudancistrus sidereus

Loricariidae

South America: Upper Orinoco River and Casiquaire, Amazonas, Venezuela. Type locality: Venezuela, Amazonas, Rio Orinoco dr.: 175.6, Río Siapa from 10 to 15 km downstream, Río Casiquiare – Río Negro dr., 01.50000º, –065.71667º.

17.5cm. (7ins)

25-29°c (77-85°f)

6.0-7.0.

Armbruster, J. W., & Lujan, N. K.. (2024). New tribe-level classification of Hypostominae (Loricariidae) based on optimization of morphological states on DNA-based relationships, with descriptions of three new tribes and two new genera. Neotropical Ichthyology, 22(4), e240108.
Armbruster, J.W., 2004. Pseudancistrus sidereus, a new species from southern Venezuela (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) with a redescription of Pseudancistrus. Zootaxa 628:1-15.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fish in the News 2024.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2021. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 07/2021 ).
Seidel, I. 2008. Back to Nature guide to L-catfishes, Ettlingen, Germany 208 p.