Spectracanthicus punctatissimus (Steindachner, 1881)
photo by Petersen, P.

Family:  Loricariidae (Armored catfishes), subfamily: Hypostominae
Max. size:  10.6 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; freshwater
Distribution:  South America: Xingu River basin, Brazil.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 7-7; Anal soft rays: 4-4. This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: vertebrae 12-14 from first neural spine not including hypural plate (vs. 8-11); it differs from all (except murinus) by having yellowish bars on tip of dorsal and caudal fins; differs from immaculatus and zuanoni by the small yellowish dots covering the body (vs. color pattern uniform, without dots or large white spots, respectively); differs from tocantinensis by having the rounded dorsal profile of snout (vs. snout pointed); differs from murinus by the presence of a bar-shaped eversible opercle with conspicuous odontodes (vs. triangle-shaped opercle not eversible, no conspicuous odontodes) and by the presence of 4 unbranched anal-fin rays (vs. 3) (Ref. 95496).
Biology: 
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 07 November 2018 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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