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Ancistrus cryptophthalmus Reis, 1987

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Relevant Information:

Habitat: This cave dwelling Ancistrus is found together with the Characins, Astanax scabripinnis and Hoplerythrinus unitaeniatus. The species is endemic to a relatively small subterranean waterway in Brazil (Dante Fenolio 2020). This species has one of the hallmark characters of a subterranean fish, no eyes; however, it hasn’t lost its pigment. Typical Ancistrus shape with both sexes sporting bristles to the head area with the male having the larger and more impressive tentacles. Diet: A. cryptophthalmus feeds on biofilms, not algae – interesting to consider in that there is no algae in a dark environment. Etymology: The specific name of cryptophthalmus means hidden (kryptos=hidden) eyes (opthalmus=eyes) and refers to this cave species lack of eyes.

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Loricariidae

Distribution:

South America: São Vicente and Angélica-Bezerra Cave system in upper Paranã River, Tocantins River drainage, Brazil. Type locality: Caverna Passa Três (about 300 m into the cave), Rio São Vicente system, São Domingos, Goias, Brazil.

Size:

6.0cm. (2½ins)

Temp:

p.H.

IUCN Red List

Ancistrus cryptophthalmus is known from only two cave systems, the Angélica-Bezerra system and the São Vicente system, in the karst area of São Domingos, upper Tocantins River basin, municipality of São Domingos, state of Goiás. The estimated area of occupancy (AOO) is 16 km² . These two systems are not connected, and the subpopulations present in São Vicente differ morphologically from the subpopulations of Angélica-Bezerra, configuring two locations. In the Bezerra cave, the river is extremely silted up due to deforestation upstream of the cave, reducing habitat quality and its food and spatial resources. In the Angélica cave there is intense visitation, which also affects habitat quality. Therefore, the species has been classified as Endangered (EN), (IUCN 2021).

Reference:

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). 2021. Ancistrus cryptophthalmus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.
Fenolio, Dante. Pers comm. 2020.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
Proudlove S. Graham. Subterranean fishes of the world. An account of the subterranean (hypogean) fishes described to 2003 with a bibliography 1541–200.
Proudlove, G.S., 1997. A synopsis of the hypogean fishes of the world. p. 351-354. In Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Speleology, La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland. vol. 3.

Family: Loricariidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Ancistrus cryptophthalmus

Ancistrus cryptophthalmus
Dorsal view

Ancistrus cryptophthalmus
Ventral view

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