''Loricaria'' 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 ...

of armored catfish 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 ...

Taxonomy

''Loricaria'' was the first genus of the family Loricariidae described. Thus, it is the nominal genus of the family Loricariidae.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

relationships within ''Loricaria'' and among other members of Loricariini remain uncertain. Its external morphology shows few shared

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

characters, making comparison with other genera difficult. ''Loricaria'' has been hypothesized to occupy a basal position among members of the subtribe Loricariina, with the other genera possessing derived characters. Based on the characteristics of its mouth, ''Loricaria'' appears to maintain a close relationship with representatives of the ''

Pseudohemiodon ''Pseudohemiodon'' is a genus of armored catfishes native to South America. Species There are currently seven recognized species in this genus: * '' Pseudohemiodon amazonus'' ( Delsman, 1941) * '' Pseudohemiodon apithanos'' Isbrücker & Nijss ...

'' group. ''Proloricaria'' is considered a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''Loricaria''.

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus: * ''

Loricaria apeltogaster ''Loricaria apeltogaster'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the drainage basins of the Paraguay River, the Paraná River, and the Uruguay River in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, a ...

'' Boulenger, 1895 * ''

Loricaria birindellii ''Loricaria birindellii'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Curuá River, a tributary of the Iriri River, which is itself a tributary of the Xingu River, with its type local ...

'' M. R. Thomas & Sabaj Pérez, 2010 * ''

Loricaria cataphracta ''Loricaria cataphracta'', sometimes known as the chocolate loricariid, is a species of catfish in the genus ''Loricaria'' and the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Amazon River basin, as well as coastal ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

* ''

Loricaria clavipinna ''Loricaria clavipinna'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Amazon River basin in Brazil and Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat ...

'' Fowler, 1940 * ''

Loricaria coximensis ''Loricaria coximensis'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the basin of the Coxim River, for which it is named, near the municipality of São Gabriel do Oeste in the state of Ma ...

'' M. S. Rodriguez, Cavallaro & M. R. Thomas, 2012Rodriguez, M.S., Cavallaro, M.R. & Thomas, M.R. (2012): ''A New Diminutive Species of'' Loricaria ''(Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Rio Paraguay System, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.'' Copeia 2012, (1): 49–56. * ''

Loricaria cuffyi ''Loricaria cuffyi'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Essequibo River and Rio Negro basins in Guyana, as well as the Orinoco basin in Venezuela, with its type locality be ...

'' Alejandro Londoño-Burbano, Alexander Urbano-Bonilla & Matthew R. Thomas, 2020Londoño‐Burbano, A., Urbano‐Bonilla, A., & Thomas, M. R. (2020). Loricaria cuffyi (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), a new species of loricariin catfish from the Guiana Shield. Journal of Fish Biology. doi:10.1111/jfb.14566 * ''

Loricaria holmbergi ''Loricaria holmbergi'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it is known only from Argentina, with its type locality reportedly being within the San Francisco River basin in Argentina's Jujuy Pr ...

'' M. S. Rodriguez & Miquelarena, 2005 * ''

Loricaria lata ''Loricaria lata'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Araguaia River basin in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ) ...

'' C. H. Eigenmann & R. S. Eigenmann, 1889 * '' Loricaria lentiginosa'' Isbrücker, 1979 * '' Loricaria luciae'' M. R. Thomas, M. S. Rodriguez, Cavallaro, Froehlich & R. M. C. Castro, 2013 Thomas, M.R., Rodriguez, M.S., Cavallaro, M.R., Froehlich, O. & Corrêa E Castro, R.M. (2013): ''Loricaria luciae'', a new species of whiptail catfish (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Paraguay and lower Paraná River basins of southeastern South America. ''Zootaxa, 3745 (3): 365–378.'' * '' Loricaria lundbergi'' M. R. Thomas & Rapp Py-Daniel, 2008 * '' Loricaria nickeriensis'' Isbrücker, 1979 * '' Loricaria parnahybae'' Steindachner, 1907 * '' Loricaria piracicabae'' R. Ihering ( pt), 1907 * '' Loricaria pumila'' M. R. Thomas & Rapp Py-Daniel, 2008 * '' Loricaria simillima''

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 * ''

Loricaria spinulifera ''Loricaria spinulifera'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Rio Negro basin in Brazil, including the Branco River and the Jauaperi River. It is typically seen in deep chann ...

'' M. R. Thomas & Rapp Py-Daniel, 2008 * '' Loricaria tucumanensis'' Isbrücker, 1979

Distribution and habitat

This genus is distributed east 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 ...

in nearly the entire tropical and subtropical parts of South America. Species occur in a variety of habitats from the main flow of rivers on sandy and rocky bottoms to flooded areas and lakes over muddy and sandy bottoms.

Description

''Loricaria'' species are recognized by the presence of elongate, slender filaments on the lips and a low number of

bicuspid The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

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 b ...

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

(usually three to four per side) that are about twice the length of the

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 tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

teeth.

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

includes hypertrophied development of the

pectoral fin 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 ...

spines, blunt

odontode Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They consist of a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel, a structure similar to th ...

s on the

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

and

anal fin 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 ...

spines, and tooth crowns becoming shortened and rounded in mature males. For the four species characterized,

karyotypic A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

diversity ranges from 2n = 62 to 2n = 68.

Ecology

The site of egg deposition varies between different members of the genus. In some species, eggs are carried on the enlarged lower lip of the male. ''L. piracicabae'' has its egg adherent to its ventral surface. Males are abdomino-lip brooders.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1755146 Loricariini Fish of South America Catfish genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Freshwater fish genera