Hypancistrus
Hypancistrus zebra
Hypancistrus (Greek: hypo = below and agkistron = bite) is a genus of armored catfish from the family of catfish -like. It is native to the Amazon basin of South America. Unlike many other Loricariids the species of the genus Hypancistrus are omnivores. There are popular aquarium fish, especially the zebra catfish.
- 5.1 Notes and references
Taxonomy
This genus is still relatively new and was first described in 1991 with the type species H.zebra. H. inspector was described in 2002 by Armbruster. In 2007, four new Hypancistrus species have been described. Undescribed species are often labeled with L- numbers.
Occurrence
The H. zebra was first discovered in the late 1980s in the Rio Xingu in Brazil. The genus Hypancistrus is also known from the Orinoco and the Rio Negro. The rest of the described species is from Venezuela, specifically from the upper Orinoco River catchment in the border area between Venezuela and Colombia. Thus, the genus Hypancistrus now consists of six described species, the type species H.zebra still expected to be added.
These fish live in slow to moderately fast running water at a water temperature of an average of 27 to 30 ° C. There they inhabit crevices and rocky ground.
Anatomy and appearance
They generally have a flattened, elongated body and are clear of the sides and in some species also armored on the ventral side by bone shields. The mouth has strong lips and is transformed into a sucking disk. It is thus well adapted to it, abzuraspeln nursery food from stones and roots and cling fast-flowing mountain streams by suction to appropriate documents. There are also species of armored catfish, which primarily feed on wood, such as the genus Panaque and Panoquolus.
The size of the armored catfish varies greatly. From only 3-4 cm small dwarf forms on medium-sized species of about 12 to 15 cm to real giants who ever can reach over 1 m length.
The different types of Hypancistrus can be distinguished by variations of stripes, bands or spotting. H.zebra can be described as a white fish with black stripes that start behind the head and continue to tail. H. furunculus appears similar to H.zebra, but it is somewhat creamy in color. In addition, he has only one strip and not necessarily more, such as H.zebra. Furunculus H. and H. debilittera have vertical stripes on the tail fin. H. debilittera has a dark color and white dots and ribbons and lines that can form an E on the nose. H. inspector has smaller dots on the head and larger on the body. Some points of the upper caudal fin can come together to make lines. If the dorsal fin is created, this does not reach the adipose fin. In contrast to both H. contra dens and H. are lunaorum. H. lunaorum has very small, the body covering Goldtüpfel, which may also occur on the head. H. contra dens has white or pink equal points that do not connect.
Nutrition
Hypancistrus are rather mixed on the question of their diet, he is regarded as omnivores. H.zebra regarded as fish who likes meat in the form of zooplankton, shrimp, mussel meat, but also plants and soft, young wood eats. Other species seem to prefer plants, as was observed in H. inspector that he eats algae, detritus, but also seeds. H.contradens eats, such as stomach samples have revealed very happy nursery.
Species
- H. contra dens Armbruster, Lujan, and Taphorn 2007
- H. debilittera Armbruster, Lujan, and Taphorn 2007
- H. furunculus Armbruster, Lujan, and Taphorn 2007
- H. lunaorum Armbruster, Lujan, and Taphorn 2007
- H. inspector Armbruster 2002
- H. zebra Isbrücker and Nijssen, 1991