Farlowella
| Farlowella | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Farlowella arcus and a poeciliid | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Loricariidae |
| Subfamily: | Loricariinae |
| Tribe: | Harttiini |
| Genus: | Farlowella C. H. Eigenmann and R. S. Eigenmann, 1889 |
| Type species | |
| Acestra acus Kner, 1853 | |
| Species | |
|
See text. | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Acestra Kner, 1853 (pre-occupied) | |
Farlowella is a genus of armored catfish native to South America. These fish resemble twigs or sticks, hence the common names twig catfish or stick catfish. They may also sometimes be referred to as whiptail catfish. Twig catfishes are natives of South America.
Taxonomy
Farlowella is placed within the tribe Harttiini of the subfamily Loricariinae. Morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic studies have placed Farlowella as sister to Sturisoma.[1]
The genus name of Farlowella is named in honor of William Gilson Farlow, a famous American botanist of Harvard University whose main work was working with algae plants, the favorite food of this slender catfish.[2]
Distribution
The genus Farlowella is broadly distributed in Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná, and coastal rivers of the Guyana Shield. It is absent from the Pacific slope of the Andes and from the coastal rivers of the Brazilian shield.[1]
Appearance and anatomy
Farlowella has a unique body shape that resembles of a thin stick of wood. The body is slender and elongate, often with a pronounced rostrum and a brownish color with two lateral dark stripes beginning at the tip of the rostrum, passing over the eyes and ending at the tail, which are periodically interrupted on the caudal peduncle.[1] Sexual dimorphism includes hypertrophied odontodes along the sides of the rostrum or the head in species with a short rostrum.[1]
There are only slight differences between the different types which sometimes lead to confusion. A very important identification is the presence of ventral scutes on these species which differentiates them from each other.[3] Twig catfishes grow between 10 centimetres (3.9 inches) SL in F. smithi and 26.5 cm (10.4 in) SL in F. nattereri.[4][5]
Habitat and ecology
Twig catfishes feed primarily on algae in their natural habitat. Species inhabit areas of gently flowing water in submerged dead leaves and sticks, among which it blends in as a form of camouflage.[1] Some specimens can sometimes be found in swift current over rocks and submerged wood. These species appear scarce, but this may partially be explained by their mimicry.[1] These species are open water brooders. The eggs are laid on open vertical surfaces such as submerged vegetation or rocks, in a single layer and are guarded by the male.[1]
In the aquarium
F. acus, F. vittata and F. gracilis are the most commonly exported species for the aquarium.[3] Twig catfishes require clean water with high dissolved oxygen content.[6] Twig catfish are often lost without enough greens to feed upon.[6]
Species list
There are currently 27 recognized species in this genus:
- Farlowella acus Kner, 1853 (Whiptail catfish)
- Farlowella altocorpus Retzer, 2006 [7]
- Farlowella amazonum Günther, 1864
- Farlowella colombiensis Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella curtirostra G. S. Myers, 1942
- Farlowella gracilis Regan, 1904
- Farlowella hahni Meinken, 1937
- Farlowella hasemani C. H. Eigenmann & Vance, 1917
- Farlowella henriquei A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1918
- Farlowella isbruckeri Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella jauruensis C. H. Eigenmann & Vance, 1917
- Farlowella knerii Steindachner, 1882
- Farlowella mariaelenae Martín Salazar, 1964
- Farlowella martini Fernández-Yépez, 1972
- Farlowella nattereri Steindachner, 1910
- Farlowella odontotumulus Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella oxyrryncha Kner, 1853
- Farlowella paraguayensis Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella platorynchus Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella reticulata Boeseman, 1971
- Farlowella rugosa Boeseman, 1971
- Farlowella schreitmuelleri C. G. E. Ahl, 1937
- Farlowella smithi Fowler, 1913
- Farlowella taphorni Retzer & Page, 1997
- Farlowella venezuelensis Martín Salazar, 1964
- Farlowella vittata G. S. Myers, 1942
- Farlowella yarigui Ballen & Mojica, 2014 [8]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Covain, Raphael; Fisch-Muller, Sonia (2007). "The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis" (PDF). Zootaxa 1462: 1–40.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). Species of Farlowella in FishBase. May 2007 version.
- 1 2 "Farlowella acus". Scotcat.com. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Farlowella smithi" in FishBase. May 2007 version.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Farlowella nattereri" in FishBase. May 2007 version.
- 1 2 Fenner, Robert. "The South (and Central) American Suckermouth Catfishes, Family Loricariidae". Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ↑ Retzer, Michael E. (2006). "A new species of Farlowella Eigenmann and Eigenmann (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), a stickcatfish from Bolivia" (PDF). Zootaxa 1282: 59–68.
- ↑ Ballen, G.A. & Mojica, J.I. (2014): A new trans-Andean Stick Catfish of the genus Farlowella Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) with the first record of the genus for the río Magdalena Basin in Colombia. Zootaxa, 3765 (2): 134–142.