Rhizosomichthys totae

Rhizosomichthys totae is a species of fish from the family of catfishes and the only member of the monotypic genus Rhizosomichthys. The species is endemic to the located in 3015 meters altitude Laguna de Tota ( Totasee ) in the Colombian Andes and is considered probably extinct.

Description

Rhizosomichthys totae reached a maximum length of 13.8 centimeters. The body was surrounded by seven fat pad segments.

Way of life

Apart from the fact that the fish was present in the deep areas of the Laguna de Tota, is about his life almost nothing is known.

Extinction

Rhizosomichthys totae is known only from ten specimens were collected 1942-1957. The Aussterbeursachen are probably the one in the enactment by the 1939, introduced rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) and on the other in seismic activity that led to a critical lowering of the water table and thus to a mass extinction of entire fish populations.