''Ancistomus feldbergae''Armbruster, J. W., Werneke, D. C., & Tan, M. (2015). Three new species of saddled loricariid catfishes, and a review of Hemiancistrus, Peckoltia, and allied genera (Siluriformes). ''ZooKeys'', (480), 97–123. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.480.6540 is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

in the family Loricariidae. It is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, where it occurs in the Xingu River basin in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is usually found in shallow

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

with a substrate composed of small-to-medium flat rocks up to 50 cm (19.7 inches) in diameter above coarse sand and pebbles. Individuals are frequently seen hiding under these flat rocks during the day and foraging on

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

growing on the upper surface of the rocks at night. The species is primarily herbivorous, feeding mainly on

diatoms A diatom (New Latin, Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group com ...

, although

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

fragments and sand grains have also been found in the stomach contents of specimens. The species reaches 17.1 cm (6.7 inches) in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

and has an

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

that can reach nearly 11 times that length. Although originally described as a species of ''

Peckoltia ''Peckoltia'' is a genus of small South American Loricariidae, armored suckermouth catfishes. Many of these fish are popular aquarium fish. Taxonomy ''Peckoltia'' is a Basal (phylogenetics), basal genus within the tribe Ancistrini of the subfami ...

'' in 2012, a 2015 review conducted by Jonathan W. Armbruster (of

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

), David C. Werneke, and Milton Tan listed the species as valid within ''

Ancistomus ''Ancistomus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes found in shallow waters in rapidly flowing rivers in the southeastern Amazon basin in Brazil. Species There are currently 5 recognized species in this genus: * '' Ancistomus feldberga ...

''. ''Ancistomus feldbergae'' appears in the aquarium trade, where it is often referred to either as the orange-fin Xingu pleco, as the Gainsboro pleco, or by one of two associated L-numbers, which are L-012, L-013, and L-163.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115728636 Fish described in 2012 Hypostominae