''Platydoras costatus'', the Raphael catfish, 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 ...

thorny catfish The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, primarily the Amazon basin and the Guianas. Doradids are omnivorous. Taxonomy As of 2007, 3 ...

native to rivers in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

and

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. It was long confused with other species in the genus ''

Platydoras ''Platydoras'' is a small genus of thorny catfishes native to freshwater habitats in subtropical and tropical South America. Species There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * ''Platydoras armatulus'' (Valenciennes, 1840) (S ...

'', especially the more widespread "true" striped Raphael catfish (''P. armatulus''). ''P. costatus'' grows to a length of SL, and unlike ''P. armatulus'' the light stripe along the body of ''P. costatus'' does not extend onto the head. This fish is a minor component of local

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

and is also found in the

aquarium 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, aq ...

trade.

References

Doradidae Fish of South America Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Doradidae-stub