Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Trichomycteridae (Pencil or parasitic catfishes) > Sarcoglanidinae
Etymology: Ammoglanis: Greek, ammos = sand + Greek, glanis = a fish that can eat the bait without touching the hook; a cat fish. Glanis was the sacred spirit of springs in the town of Glanum and there was the Glanicae, a triad of local mother goddesses (Ref. 45335); pulex: Named for its small size ('pulex' meaning flea); noun in apposition.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 5.5 - 6.2. Tropical; 28°C - 28°C (Ref. 40443)
South America: Paria Grande River , Pamoni River, and Caño Garrapata in Venezuela.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 1.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 39970)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
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.
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).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
de Pinna, M.C.C. and K.O. Winemiller, 2000. A new species of Ammoglanis (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) from Venezuela. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 11(3):255-264. (Ref. 40443)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.6250 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.0 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
