| Family: |
Trichomycteridae (Pencil or parasitic catfishes), subfamily: Sarcoglanidinae |
| Max. size: |
1.49 cm SL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; freshwater; pH range: 5.5 - 6.19999980926514 |
| Distribution: |
South America: Paria Grande River , Pamoni River, and Caño Garrapata in Venezuela. |
| Diagnosis: |
Vertebrae: 30-31. Dark chromatophores inside the body, forming a banded pattern visible from both sides of its transparent body. No teeth on dentary and premaxillary. Scythe-shaped lacrimal with an anterior facet articulating with the anterior palatine cartilage. |
| Biology: |
Specimens collected from sand banks near the shorelines of clear water, slightly tea-stained streams. Found buried in coarse clear sand at the stream edge, at depths ranging from about 2 to at least 20 cm, in areas shaded by dense tropical rainforest (gallery forest). Waters with slow current, pH varying between 5.5 and 6.2, temperature between 27.5 and 28°C. Apparently fossorial by daylight. Its relatively short gut have no identifiable gut contents, but it is suspected to feed on microscopic fauna like protozoa, rotifers and nematodes since it inhabits interstitial spaces among sand grains in nutrient-poor, clear-water and backwater streams (Ref. 40443). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 30 October 2020 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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