''Spatuloricaria'' 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 armored catfishes 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 sout ...

and

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 ...

. ''Spatuloricaria'' is in need of revision, as species boundaries and distributions are poorly known. The

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 ...

position of ''Spatuloricaria'' remains uncertain. ''Spatuloricaria'' has been placed at the base of a clade including representatives of the ''

Loricaria ''Loricaria'' is a genus of armored catfish native to South America. Taxonomy ''Loricaria'' was the first genus of the family Loricariidae described. Thus, it is the nominal genus of the family Loricariidae. Phylogenetic relationships within ' ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' groups. Its dentition, with few teeth on the

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 ...

e, and its abdominal cover consisting of minute disjointed platelets resembles that of some representatives of the ''Loricaria'' group. Conversely, the

papillose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

surface of the lips and sexually dimorphic features are more characteristic of the ''

Rineloricaria ''Rineloricaria'' (from the Greek, ''rhinos'' meaning ''nose'', and the Latin, ''lorica'' meaning ''cuirass of leather'') is a genus of freshwater tropical catfish ( order Siluriformes) belonging to the family Loricariidae. They are commonly call ...

'' group. This genus is distributed in the northwestern part of the

n subcontinent, in drainages of the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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 ...

. Several species occur also in the upper Amazon River basin, upper

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and São Francisco River basins. Sexual dimorphism includes hypertrophied development of claw-like

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 and on the pectoral spines in mature males. Ecological data is unavailable and reproductive biology is unknown for ''Spatuloricaria'' species.

Species

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, 1840 * '' Spatuloricaria phelpsi'' L. P. Schultz, 1944 * '' Spatuloricaria puganensis'' N. E. Pearson, 1937 * '' Spatuloricaria terracanticum'' Londoño-Burbano, Urbano-Bonilla, Rojas-Molina, Ramírez-Gil & Prada-Pedreros, 2018 * '' Spatuloricaria tuira'' Fichberg, O. T. Oyakawa &

de Pinna De Pinna was a high-end clothier for men and women founded in New York City in 1885, by Alfred De Pinna (1831 - 1915), a Sephardic Jew born in England. They also sold menswear-inspired clothing for women that was finely tailored. The flagship sto ...

, 2014 (Tuira's whiptail) Fichberg, I., Oyakawa, O.T. & de Pinna, M. (2014): The End of an Almost 70-Year Wait: A New Species of Spatuloricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Rio Xingu and Rio Tapajós Basins. ''Copeia, 2014 (2): 317-324''.

References

Loricariini Fish of South America Fish of the Amazon basin Catfish genera Taxa named by Leonard Peter Schultz Freshwater fish genera {{Paraguay-stub