Spectracanthicus

Spectracanthicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Loricariidae
Subfamily:	Hypostominae
Tribe:	Ancistrini
Genus:	Spectracanthicus Nijssen and Isbrücker, 1986
Type species
Spectracanthicus murinus Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1987
Species
Spectracanthicus murinus Spectracanthicus punctatissimus
Synonyms
Oligancistrus Rapp Py-Daniel, 1989

Spectracanthicus is a small genus of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Loricariidae. It includes two species, S. murinus and S. punctatissimus.

Taxonomy

Spectracanthicus was first described in 1986 with S. murinus as the type species of this genus.^[1] S. punctatissimus was transferred to this genus from Oligancistrus after it was concluded that the genus does not warrant recognition because of its close relationship to S. murinus.^[2] Some authors maintain the validity of Oligancistrus.^[3]

S. murinus appears to be unique in the tribe Ancistrini in that it has lost many of the traits that describe this group, such as evertible cheek plates and modified opercle; S. punctatissimus appears to show a trend towards this loss.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

Spectracanthicus are distributed in South America. S. murinus originates from the Tapajós River basin.^[4] S. punctatissimus originates from the Xingu River basin.^[5] Both of these species are from Brazil.^[3]

Appearance and anatomy

Spectracanthicus are generally small loricariids. S. murinus grows to a length of about 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) SL.^[4] S. punctatissimus reaches a length of about 10.6 cm (4.2 in) SL.^[5]

References

1. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). Species of Spectracanthicus in FishBase. June 2007 version.
2. ^ ^{a b} Armbruster, Jonathan W.. "Spectracanthicus Nijssen and Isbrücker, 1986". http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/res_area/loricariid/fish_key/Spectra/Spectra.html. Retrieved 2007-06-01. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa 1418: 1–628. http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/library/biblios/2007_Ferraris_Catfish_Checklist.pdf. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Spectracanthicus murinus" in FishBase. June 2007 version.
5. ^ ^{a b} Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Spectracanthicus punctatissimus" in FishBase. June 2007 version.