''Hypancistrus phantasma'' 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 ...
of
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
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 ...
. 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
Vaupés River
Vaupés River (Uaupés River) is a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America. It rises in the Guaviare Department of Colombia, flowing east through Guaviare and Vaupés Departments. It forms part of the international border between the Vaupés ...
in the
Rio Negro drainage in the
Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
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 ...
. The species reaches 12.3 cm (4.8 inches) SL. Its specific epithet means "phantom" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, referring to the species' notable elusiveness and its pale coloration. It was described in 2016 by Milton Tan and Jonathan W. Armbruster on the basis of coloration, alongside the related species ''
Hypancistrus margaritatus
''Hypancistrus margaritatus'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Takutu River of Guyana, which is a tributary of the Branco River, which is in turn a tributary of the Rio N ...
''.
''H. phantasma'' was described based on only a small number of specimens collected in 1924, and it has reportedly not been collected since, nor is it known in the aquarium trade, unlike ''H. margaritatus''.
[Tan, M., & Armbruster, J. W. (2016). Two new species of spotted Hypancistrus from the Rio Negro drainage (Loricariidae, Hypostominae). ''ZooKeys'', (552), 123–135. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.552.5956]
References
Ancistrini
Fish described in 2016
{{Loricariidae-stub