Aspidoras Marianae

📖 Overview

Facultative air-breathing ; Found in a slow-flowing stream with clear water and a sandy bottom with mud, leaf litter, submerged logs, and some aquatic macrophytes .

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7; Vertebrae: 23. Aspidoras marianae is distinguished from its congeners by having minute odontode-bearing platelets scattered over surface of snout region. It can be diagnosed from its congeners, except A. taurus, by having infraorbital 1 and 2 covered by thick skin and not visible externally (vs. externally visible), and from A. taurus by the possession of minute platelets between parieto-supraoccipital process and nuchal plate (vs. absence); from Aspidoras microgalaeus and A. belenos by the presence of 3 nasal pores (vs. 2); from A. velites by presenting ventral laminar expansion of the 1st infraorbital conspicuously expanded (vs. very reduced, almost absent in some specimens); by the number of dorsal-fin rays, II,7,i (vs. II,7-II,8); the reduced number of ventrolateral body plates, 22-23 (vs. 24-26); the greater depth of body, 28.0-31.0% SL (vs. 15.0-20.3%); the greater maximum cleithral width, 24.1-28.5% SL (vs. 12.5-17.1%); the greater head depth, 68.2-83.0% HL (vs. 53.2-64.6%); the greater least interorbital distance, 49.9-58.6% HL (vs. 30.3-38.3%); and the greater least internareal distance, 26.9-31.8% HL (vs. 11.1-17.9%); distinguish from A. microgalaeus by the greater head length, 32.5-38.6% SL (vs. 25.4-28.7%); the greater horizontal orbit diameter, 18.9-23.5% HL (vs. 10.1-17.0%); the reduced number of total free vertebrae, 23 (vs. 25); the 1st infraorbital notoriously expanded ventrally (vs. not expanded); anal fin with a diffuse blotch restricted to the base of the last 2 rays, and 1 blotch each over 3rd and 4th branched rays (vs. 2 series of dots on all rays); differs from A. belenos and A. brunneus, it by the overall coloration in a roughly marbled pattern (vs. characterized by stripes and/or solid, uniform coloration); also from A. belenos by conical serrations on the pectoral-fin spine (vs. bifid serrations) . : elongated.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Aspidoras Marianae is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

🥚 Reproduction

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical South America: known only from its type locality, an unnamed stream tributary of the Rio Curuá, itself a tributary of the Rio Iriri in the Rio Xingu basin, Brazil (Ref.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🐠 Related Species

🔍 Similar Species

👥 Community & Contribute