''Farlowella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Loricariidae The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...

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 ...

. This genus is broadly

distributed Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

, Paraná and coastal rivers of the

Guyana Shield The Guiana Shield (french: Plateau des Guyanes, Bouclier guyanais; nl, Hoogland van Guyana, Guianaschild; pt, Planalto das Guianas, Escudo das Guianas; es, Escudo guayanés) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a 1 ...

. It is absent from the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

slope of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

and from the coastal rivers of the Brazilian Shield.Covain, R. & Fisch-Muller, S. (2007)
The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis.
''Zootaxa, 1462: 1–40.'' Many of these

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 ...

are kept in

aquariums An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, a ...

. This genus has a unique body shape that resembles a thin stick of wood. The

body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

is slender and elongate, often with a pronounced

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

and a brownish color with two lateral dark stripes beginning at the tip of the rostrum, passing over the eyes and ending at the tail, which are periodically interrupted on the

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

Taxonomy

The genus is placed within the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Harttiini Loricariinae is a subfamily of the family Loricariidae of catfish (order Siluriformes). This subfamily is divided into two tribes and about 30 genera. They are mainly native to freshwater habitats in South America, but there are also several sp ...

of the subfamily

Loricariinae Loricariinae is a subfamily of the family Loricariidae of catfish (order Siluriformes). This subfamily is divided into two tribes and about 30 genera. They are mainly native to freshwater habitats in South America, but there are also several sp ...

. Morphological,

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

and phylogenetic studies have placed ''Farlowella'' as

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to ''

Sturisoma ''Sturisoma'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to Central and South America. Taxonomy ''Sturisoma'' has been shown to be sister to ''Farlowella''. Species There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: * '' Sturisoma barbatum' ...

''. The genus name of ''Farlowella'' is named in honor of

William Gilson Farlow William Gilson Farlow (December 17, 1844 – June 3, 1919) was an American botanist, born in Boston, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard (A.B., 1866; M.D., 1870), where, after several years of European study, he became adjunct professor of ...

, a famous

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

whose main work was working with

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 ...

plants, the favorite food of this slender

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, ...

Species

There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Farlowella acus ''Farlowella acus'' is the type species of the armored catfish genus ''Farlowella.'' Members of this genus are commonly known as twig catfish or whiptail catfish. The specific name of the species, ''acus'', means “pointed” or a “needle” ...

'' ( Kner, 1853) * '' Farlowella altocorpus'' Retzer, 2006 * '' Farlowella amazonum'' ( Günther, 1864) * '' Farlowella colombiensis'' Retzer &

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

, 1997 * '' Farlowella curtirostra'' G. S. Myers, 1942 * '' Farlowella gianetii'' Ballen, Pastana & L. A. W. Peixoto, 2016 Ballen, G.A., Pastana, M.N.L. & Peixoto, L.A.W. (2016)
A new species of ''Farlowella'' (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) of the ''F. nattereri'' species-group from the rio Xingu basin, Mato Grosso, Brazil, with comments on ''Farlowella jauruensis'', a poorly-known species from the upper rio Paraguai basin.
''Neotropical Ichthyology, 14 (3): e160046.'' * '' Farlowella gladiolus'' ( Günther, 1864) * '' Farlowella gracilis''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1904 * '' Farlowella hahni'' Meinken, 1937 * '' Farlowella hasemani'' C. H. Eigenmann & Vance, 1917 * '' Farlowella henriquei'' A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1918 * '' Farlowella isbruckeri'' Retzer &

, 1997 * '' Farlowella jauruensis'' C. H. Eigenmann & Vance, 1917 * '' Farlowella knerii'' (

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...

, 1882) * '' Farlowella mariaelenae'' Martín Salazar, 1964 * '' Farlowella martini'' Fernández-Yépez, 1972 * '' Farlowella mitoupibo'' Ballen, Urbano-Bonilla &

Zamudio , population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 2016 Ballen, G.A., Urbano-Bonilla, A. & Zamudio, J.E. (2016)
''Farlowella mitoupibo'', a new species of stick catfish from the upper Guaviare River, Orinoco basin, Colombia (Teleostei: Loricariidae).
''Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 27 (4): 325-332.'' * '' Farlowella nattereri''

, 1910 * '' Farlowella odontotumulus'' Retzer &

, 1997 * '' Farlowella oxyrryncha'' ( Kner, 1853) * '' Farlowella paraguayensis'' Retzer &

, 1997 * '' Farlowella reticulata'' Boeseman, 1971 * '' Farlowella rugosa'' Boeseman, 1971 * '' Farlowella schreitmuelleri'' C. G. E. Ahl, 1937 * '' Farlowella smithi'' Fowler, 1913 * '' Farlowella taphorni'' Retzer &

, 1997 * '' Farlowella venezuelensis'' Martín Salazar, 1964 * '' Farlowella vittata'' G. S. Myers, 1942 * '' Farlowella yarigui'' Ballen & Mojica, 2014 Ballen, G.A. & Mojica, J.I. (2014)
A new trans-Andean Stick Catfish of the genus ''Farlowella'' Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) with the first record of the genus for the río Magdalena Basin in Colombia.
''Zootaxa, 3765 (2): 134–142.''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134999 Loricariidae Fish of South America Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann Taxa named by Rosa Smith Eigenmann Catfish genera