Branched bristlenose catfish

Ancistrus triradiatus

FAMILY

Loricariidae

TAXONOMY

Ancistrus triradiatus Eigenmann, 1918, Quebrada Gramalote, Barrigona, Villavicencio, Departamento del Meta, Colombia.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

Spanish: Cucha barbuda.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Length 4.7 in (12 cm). Body broad and depressed, covered with bony plates, 23–26 in the lower lateral series; belly naked; dorsal fin with one spine and eight rays; adipose fin present, not attached to adipose fin by a membrane; caudal fin truncate; anal fin with one spine and three to four rays; pectoral fin spine short, not reaching the origin of pelvic fin; anterior portion of upper snout surface naked and with well-developed branching barbels in males, barbels small and simple in females; mouth ventral; teeth small, numerous, and bifid; opercular bones armed with about a dozen spines.

DISTRIBUTION

South America in middle and lower Orinoco River tributaries; Venezuelan and Colombian Caribbean coastal drainages, including the Magdalena River; Lake Maracaibo Basin, including the Catatumbo River.

HABITAT

Fresh waters. Benthic, in fast-running mountain streams with coarse pebble bottoms; lives as high up as 3,300 ft (1,000 m).

BEHAVIOR

Relatively shy fishes, usually live in caves or below rocks.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Omnivorous, feeds on filamentous algae and microorganisms growing on rocks, logs, and leaves. Also rasps rotten wood and ingests the cellulose. The lignin is reportedly important for their digestive processes.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

The male selects an area such as under a log or a rocky cave and after some hours of courtship the female lays 50–150 yellowish to orange eggs, about 0.10 in (2.5 mm) long, which are guarded by the male and hatch in one week or less.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Unimportant for fisheries. Used as an aquarium fish, it has been spawned in captivity.