''Sturisomatichthys leightoni'' is a species of

armored catfish Armoured catfish may refer to: *Family Loricariidae: The armoured suckermouth catfish, also known as suckermouth catfish, armoured catfish or simply 'plecs' or 'plecos' *Family Callichthyidae: armoured catfish, includes the genera **''Corydoras'', ...

of 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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where it occurs in the upper Magdalena and

Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and th ...

basins. This species grows to a length of SL.

Mark

The ''Sturisomatichthys leightoni'' is about 14 to 18 cm long. Its upper caudal fin is longer than its lower caudal fin. Both of them are elongated and peaked.

Sex differences

The male Sturisomatichthys leightoni is shorter than the female one and has a short beard (1–2 mm).

Reproduction

The female lays about 40 eggs. The male fans fresh water on top of the eggs until the babies hatch. This takes about 6–7 days.

Etymology

The catfish is named in honor of Sir Bryan Leighton (1868-1919), who presented the type specimen to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

References

* *The German Wikipedia page about the Sturisomatichthys leightoni :https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwergst%C3%B6rwels 17.09.19 Harttiini Endemic fauna of Colombia Freshwater fish of Colombia Fish of the Andes Magdalena River Taxa named by Charles Tate Regan Fish described in 1912 {{Loricariidae-stub