Parancistrus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Otomorpha
Subcohors: Ostariophysi
Sectio: Otophysa
Ordo: Siluriformes

Familia: Loricariidae
Subfamilia: Hypostominae
Tribus: Ancistrini
Genus: Parancistrus
Species: P. aurantiacus – P. nudiventris
Name
Parancistrus Bleeker, 1862

Parancistrus aurantiacus

Parancistrus is a small genus of suckermouth armored catfishes native to South America.
Taxonomy

Three species - Hypostomus aurantiacus, H. nigricans and H. vicinus - were described by François Louis de la Porte, comte de Castelnau in 1855.[1] Parancistrus was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1862 and P. aurantiacus designated as type.[2] Later, P. nigricans and P. vicinus were deemed to be synonyms of P. aurantiacus, making P. aurantiacus the only species of Parancistrus until P. nudiventris was described in 2005.[1]
Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[3]

Parancistrus aurantiacus (Castelnau, 1855)
Parancistrus nudiventris Rapp Py-Daniel & Zuanon, 2005

Appearance and anatomy

Parancistrus is unique among loricariids due to the presence of fleshy folds on the naked area around the dorsal fin and at the pectoral fin points insertion in the breeding males.[1] Breeding males also have elongated odontodes on their bodies and pectoral fin spines.[1]

Parancistrus have stout bodies that are completely plated in adults. The dorsal fin membrane connects to the adipose fin spine. Their color is typically slate gray to black, occasionally with white streaks. They have large gill openings, which makes the genus different from all other loricariids except some Pogonopoma and Rhinelepis.[1]
References

Armbruster, Jonathan W. "Parancistrus". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). Species of Parancistrus in FishBase. June 2007 version.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Parancistrus in FishBase. December 2011 version.