''Brochiloricaria'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of armored catfishes 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 sout ...

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Brochiloricaria chauliodon'' Isbrücker, 1979 * '' Brochiloricaria macrodon'' ( Kner, 1853)

Appearance and anatomy

''Brochiloricaria'' is morphologically very similar to ''

Loricaria ''Loricaria'' is a genus of armored catfish native to South America. Taxonomy ''Loricaria'' was the first genus of the family Loricariidae described. Thus, it is the nominal genus of the family Loricariidae. Phylogenetic relationships within ' ...

'' and can be distinguished from the latter only by its teeth characteristics; in ''Brochiloricaria'', the teeth are very long and of equal size on both jaws, while in ''Loricaria'' the

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has ...

ry teeth are almost two times longer than

dentary In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

teeth. However, dentition may not be a reliable characteristic to differentiate to genera, so Brochiloricaria may actually be a synonym of ''Loricaria''. Both species of ''Brochiloricaria'' reach almost 30 centimetres (12 in) in length.

Ecology

''Brochiloricaria'' is an abdomino-lip brooder.

References

Loricariini Fish of South America Fish of Argentina Fauna of Brazil Catfish genera Taxa named by Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker Taxa named by Han Nijssen Freshwater fish genera {{Loricariidae-stub