Rhynchodoras

Rhynchodoras is a small genus of thorny catfishes native to South America. Rhynchodoras is closely related to Rhinodoras and Orinocodoras.[1]

Rhynchodoras
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Doradidae
Subfamily: Doradinae
Genus: Rhynchodoras
Klausewitz & Rössel, 1961
Type species
Rhynchodoras xingui
Klausewitz & Rössel, 1961

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:[2]

Description

Rhynchodoras species are distinguished from all other doradids by their highly modified jaws which are strongly compressed, elongate, forceps-like in appearance, and project ventrally.[3] The head is large and longer than it is wide, with a somewhat conical shape. There are three pairs of barbels, one pair of maxillary barbels and two pairs of mental barbels. Barbs occur on the dorsal fin and pectoral fin spines; on the anterior surface, barbs are curved towards the tip of the spine, and on the posterior surface are recurved away from the tip of the spine. The caudal fin is forked. There is a series of spined, lateral plates called scutes. Eyes are relatively small.[3]

R. woodsi can be differentiated from R. xingui by a smaller eye and a slightly longer upper jaw than lower jaw.[3] Also, R. castilloi differs from R. woodsi by having abundant, punctate tubercles on the body, and it differs from R. xingui in the number of form of its scutes.[1]

References
  1. Ng, Heok Hee (2007-09-10). "New doradid has proboscoid mouth". Practical Fishkeeping.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Rhynchodoras in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  3. Glodek, Garrett S. (1976). "Rhynchodoras woodsi, A New Catfish from Eastern Ecuador (Siluriformes: Doradidae) with a Redefinition of Rhynchodoras". Copeia. 1976 (1): 43–46. doi:10.2307/1443769. JSTOR 1443769.
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