''Peckoltia multispinis'', commonly known as the bristlemouth catfish, is a species of small freshwater fish in the genus ''

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 ...

'' of the catfish family Loricariidae. It has the

L-number The L-number system is a semi-scientific classification system of catfish based on photographs of shipments of tropical catfish of the family Loricariidae published by the German aquarium magazine DATZ (Die Aquarien- und Terrarienzeitschrift (The ...

L049. It is possibly a junior synonym for ''Peckoltia vittata'' (Steindachner, 1881). However, the online Encyclopedia of Life lists this fish as ''Lasiancistrus multispinis.'' The California Academy of Sciences lists ''Peckoltia multispinis'' as the currently correct name. This species is not to be confused with the valid but unrelated species '' Ancistrus multispinis'', and although ''A. multispinis'' has been used as a name for both this species (now a member of ''Peckoltia'') and the one it is currently used for, ''A. multispinis'' was initially described as a member of the now-invalid genus ''Xenocara'' and was classified under that genus when this species was first described as a member of '' Ancistrus''. Because of this, ''Ancistrus multispinis'' is a valid name, but not one that should be used for ''P. multispinis''.

Description

''Peckoltia multispinis'' grows to around 10 cm (3.9 inches) long. The greatest recorded length is 14.8 cm (5.8 inches). The lower lip has a short, multibranched fleshy fringe. It has a black and yellow striped or mottled pattern with large black eyes. As they grow, males develop small tooth-like projections along the flanks of the back half of the body and on the leading rays of the pectoral fins. Females are wider across the body when viewed from above.

Distribution

This species inhabits woody backwaters of the

Rio Tocantins The Tocantins River ( pt, Rio Tocantins, link=no , , Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak" ...

in the lower

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.

In the aquarium

''Peckoltia multispinis'' requires a

soft water Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbo ...

aquarium with waters of between and a pH of around 6. It is described as non-aggressive in the aquarium but not effective at cleaning away algae. There is no commercial fishery for this species, only the aquarium trade.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5542980 Hypostominae Fish described in 1929