Pterygoplichthyini
Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus
The Pterygoplichthini are a tribe of South American armored catfishes ( Loricariidae ). They occur in Panama, and in South America, almost the entire range of the armored catfish, but not in the three Guiana and in the coastal rivers of southeastern Brazil.
Features
The types of Pterygoplichthini have a typical pleco shape with a flattened body and a flat, provided with a suction mouth under constant head. Their dorsal fin has more spines ( 9-14) than that of other armored catfish (6-8) and higher, which is why they are called in German often sail signs catfish. Diagnostic feature of the group is the enlarged stomach, which is connected via a Bindegewebsband with the rear abdomen. The Pterygoplichthini be up to 60 inches long.
Way of life
The Pterygoplichthini occur both in cool mountain streams and in low-oxygen, stagnant waters of the plains, especially in white water rivers. The individual species often have a very large distribution area and colonize, spread across barriers, different river systems with different water chemistry. They spawn in caves which they dig in the embankments of rivers. The males operate brood care and guard and clean the eggs.
Outer systematics
The Pterygoplichthini are in the crown group of the Hypostominae and are the sister group of the Ancistrini, with whom they share the arrangement of the scutes on the gill covers. The systematic position illustrated by the following cladogram:
Ancistrini
Pterygoplichthini
Hypostomini
Corymbophanini
Inside systematics
The Pterygoplichthini currently comprise only two species that differ in the number of dorsal fin rays:
- Hemiancistrus Bleeker, 1862
- Pterygoplichthys Gill, 1858
Swell
- The Loricariidae by Dr. Jonathan Armbruster: Pterygoplichthini Armbruster 2004
- Ingo Seidel: pleco breeding. Tetra Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89745-139-1