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Location: Home > News > Industry Dynamics > Scientists Discover Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish

Scientists Discover Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish

Date: 2019-02-10 Author: SCI-NEWS Click: 788

Six new species of tentacle-nosed catfish have been discovered in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins.


A close-up of the tentacles of a male Ancistrus patronus. The male’s tentacles look like the eggs that the male cares for. Image credit: Jonathan W. Armbruster.


The new catfish are all members of the genus Ancistrus, also known as bristlenose catfish.


These river-dwelling fish are between 3 and 6 inches long, and the males have tentacles erupting from their snouts.


“They have tentacles on their snouts, they have spines that stick out from their heads, almost like claws, to protect themselves and their nests, and their body is covered with bony plates like armor,” said Dr. Lesley de Souza, an ichthyologist at Field Museum.


The tentacles are there to persuade females that their owners would make good dads. Ancistrus catfish fathers look after their young, guarding nests of eggs and warding off predators. And the tentacles make potential fish dads look like they know what they’re doing.


“The idea is that when a female fish sees a male with these tentacles, to her, they look like eggs. That signifies to her that he’s a good father who’s able to produce offspring and protect them” Dr. de Souza said.


“It’s an evolutionary move that takes ‘catfishing’ to a whole new, kind of sweet level.”


Some of the new species’ names hint at the animals’ traits or the story of their discovery. For instance, Ancistrus patronus’ name means ‘protector,’ a reference to how Ancistrus fathers care for their young.


The species-defining type specimen for A. yutajae is named for two star-crossed lovers in an Indigenous Amazonian legend; it was discovered on Valentine’s Day in 1981.


Some of the other new species’ names have a personal connection for de Souza — A. kellerae for Connie Keller, a major supporter of conservation science at the Field Museum, A. leoni after a deceased colleague, A. saudadesfor the Portuguese word for melancholy, for de Souza’s nostalgia for her Brazilian homeland.


The catfish are found in northeastern South America, in an area of Venezuela, Colombia, and Guyana known as the Guiana Shield. The fish live in clear, fast-moving rivers and streams.


“If you’re in the right habitat, you’re going to find a lot of them,” Dr. de Souza said.


“But they are sensitive to subtle changes in the environment, we have seen this at sites where they were plentiful and now scarce, this is due to habitat destruction.”


The discovery is reported in a paper in the February 7, 2019 issue of the journal Zootaxa.

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Lesley S. de Souza et al. 2019. Review of Ancistrus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the northwestern Guiana Shield, Orinoco Andes, and adjacent basins with description of six new species. Zootaxa 4552 (1); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4552.1.1


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