Description: Possesses the characters of the rocky group and can be diagnosed within the species of the rocky group by the following characters: asymmetrical tooth cusps (vs. almost symmetrical cusps in Rineloricaria aequalicuspis); spotted colour pattern in all fins (vs. a unique colour pattern composed of one dark, wide band covering most of the distal one-half of all fins in Rineloricaria baliola ); narrower head, head width 74.7-83.5 (vs. 83.7-93.6% of head length in Rineloricaria jaraguensis); 5-11 teeth in both dentary and premaxilla (vs. 12-16 teeth in each jaw in Rineloricaria latirostris ); plated abdomen (vs. naked or almost naked in Rineloricaria malabarbai and Rineloricaria maquinensis); and short dorsal unbranched principal caudal-fin ray (vs. dorsal unbranched principal caudal-fin ray produced in a filament in Rineloricaria pentamaculata). Habitat: Occurs in watercourses with slow to fast flow, clear to brown water with rocky, sandy, or muddy bottom. Encountered in polluted waters. 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. Aquarium Care: As with all Rineloricaria provide long leaved plants or bamboo stalks for them to hang on to. Diet: Omnivore. Vegetable food such as cucumber and other various foods such as tablet, flake and frozen. Etymology: The specific name: microlepidogaster: meaning small scales on the belly.
None
Loricaria microlepidogaster
Loricariidae
South America: Laguna dos Patos basin, Brazil. Type locality: Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
19.0cm. (7½ins)
22-26°c (71-79°f)
6.0-7.5.
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.
2011. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
www.fishbase.org, version.
Loureiro M, González-Bergonzoni I,
Teixeira de Mello F. 2023. Freshwater Fishes
of Uruguay. Second edition. Vertebrate Zoology Laboratory,
Faculty of Sciences, University of the Republic.
Rodriguez, M.S. and R.E. Reis, 2008.
Taxonomic review of Rineloricaria (Loricariidae: Loricariinae)
from the Laguna dos Patos drainage, Southern Brazil,
with the descriptions of two new species and the recognition
of two species groups. Copeia 2008(2):333-349.
Family: Loricariidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails
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