''Rineloricaria'' (from the Greek, ''rhinos'' meaning ''nose'', and the Latin, ''lorica'' meaning ''

cuirass A cuirass (; french: cuirasse, la, coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French '' cuirac ...

of leather'') is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of freshwater tropical

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 ...

( order Siluriformes) belonging to 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 ...

. They are commonly called whiptail catfish because of the long filament that grows out of the tip of the

caudal 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 ...

that is characteristic of the genus. With the exception of '' R. altipinnis'' from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, they are native to the rivers of northern and central

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 sout ...

. Some species are regularly seen in the aquarium trade.

Taxonomy

This genus was described by

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia ...

in 1862, with ''R. lima'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. This genus is by far one of the most speciose of the subfamily

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

, containing about 30

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 ...

. On the other hand, it is one of the least resolved genera. In 2008, 14 new species were added to this genus. ''Hemiloricaria'', '' Fonchiiichthys'', and ''Leliella'' been variably considered synonyms of ''Rineloricaria''; these genera were erected to account for differences in

sexually dimorphic 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 ...

traits. However, the traits used to diagnose these genera have been thought to be insufficient.

Species

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) * '' Rineloricaria microlepidota'' ( Steindachner, 1907) * '' Rineloricaria misionera'' M. S. Rodriguez & Miquelarena, 2005 * '' Rineloricaria morrowi'' Fowler, 1940 * '' Rineloricaria nigricauda'' (

, 1904) * '' Rineloricaria stellata'' Ghazzi, 2008 * '' Rineloricaria stewarti'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1909) * '' Rineloricaria strigilata'' ( R. F. Hensel, 1868) * '' Rineloricaria teffeana'' ( Steindachner, 1879) * '' Rineloricaria thrissoceps'' ( Fowler, 1943) * '' Rineloricaria tropeira'' Ghazzi, 2008 * '' Rineloricaria wolfei'' Fowler, 1940 * '' Rineloricaria zaina'' Ghazzi, 2008

Distribution and habitat

The genus is widely distributed on nearly the entire subcontinent, from Costa Rica to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, on both slopes 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 ...

. ''Rineloricaria'' species are found in a large variety of habitats, including large rivers, streams, and lagoons, associated with bottoms consisting of sand or rocks, sometimes found in marginal vegetation. They are also found to tolerate environments with a wide temperature gradient. ''Rineloricaria'' have an adaptive capacity enabling many species to exploit the most varied habitats; some species, such as '' R. strigilata'', have been caught in highly polluted bodies of water and represent some of the main components of the ichthyological diversity in such habitats.

Appearance and anatomy

The average length of a ''Rineloricaria catfish'' is about 13 cm (5 in) long. The fish are long, slender, have no visible

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some s ...

, an erect

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

, a very thin

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 see ...

, and a narrow face. Coloration of the fishes are usually light brown with darker blotches, and have a dark

. They are also covered with bony plates and have a sucker disk mouth, as is common with most fish in the family

Reproduction

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 an ...

includes

hypertrophied Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It is distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number.Updated by Linda J ...

development of the

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 along the sides of the head, on the

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectorali ...

spines and rays, and predorsal area of mature males. Several species also show hypertrophied development of the odontodes on the entire

. In males, the pectoral fin spine is often thick, short, and curved when compared to the female. ''Rineloricaria'' are cavity brooders. Numerous

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s (often more than 100) are laid attached to one another in single layer masses on the cavity floor, and are brooded by males. Rineloricaria exhibit high levels of

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 with

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

numbers ranging from 36 to 70.

References