Farlowella acus • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog • PlanetCatfish

Ventral view detailing belly scutes arrangement
Ventral view detailing belly scutes arrangement
Dorsal view
F. vittata above, F. acus below - compare rostrum.
Habitat:- Rio Aragua, Venezuela
Juvenile
Juvenile

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Farlowella acus** (Kner, 1853)
Common Name(s)	Aguja (Spanish, Venezuelan), Twig Catfish
Type Locality	Caracas, Venezuela.
Synonym(s)	Acestra acus, Farlowella scolopacina, Loricaria scolopacina
Pronunciation	far LOW ella - ah kuss
Etymology	Named after W. G. Farlow, from Harvard University. This specific epithet literally means needle (acus=needle) and refers to its long, thin appearance.
Species Information
Size	163mm (6.4") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Readily identifiable by its short blunt rostrum. No other Farlowella species share the same habitat/range of F. acus.
Sexing	Males develop fairly long breeding odontodes along the sides of the rostrum.
General Remarks	This fish is highly endangered and could easily become extinct in the next twenty years. Although numerous aquarium books show photos labelled as Farlowella acus they are most likely all incorrect. It is very doubtful that this fish has ever been exported for the aquarium trade. The holotype’s origin is listed as Caracas, Venezuela 8 August 1850. Reitzer and Page, 1996 state, “The type locality of Caracas probably refers to the general region of Venezuela.” However, I have encountered F. acus within the Rio Tuy drainage. The Rio Guaire, a tributary of the Rio Tuy, flows through Caracas and it would not be impossible that 150 years ago F. acus swam in the Rio Guaire. Thus the holotype may have actually come from the Rio Guaire or one of its feeder streams in the valley of Caracas.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Originally plentiful throughout the Lake Valencia and Rio Tuy drainages. It may have existed in the Rio Guaire (which is part of the Rio Tuy system) that runs through downtown Caracas in the past or the holotype location above may represent where the holotype was shipped from. Now restricted to handful of small rivers that feed Lake Valencia such as the Rio Aragua and the uppermost headwaters of some Rio Tuy feeder streams. Tuy (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there) Valencia (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
pH	6.8 - 7.6
Temperature	23.0-26.0°C or 73.4-78.8°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	Water should be clear and high in dissolved oxygen.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Captive feeding is easy and this fish quickly adapts to live, frozen and dry foods. Algae wafers should form the bulk of the diet and be supplemented with proteins twice weekly.
Furniture	Substrate should be fine sand and rounded stones. This is a reophilic fish that rarely leaves the substrate. Driftwood is mostly absent from their natural habitat but they congregate where bamboo stalks hang into the water. It is only found in cool rivers and streams with a fair amount of current.
Compatibility	All Farlowella spp. are peaceful fish that do not compete well with aggressive tankmates. Large robust loricariids, medium to large cichlids and fast swimming shoaling fishes do not make good tankmates as Farlowella cannot compete with them for food.
Suggested Tankmates	Other small peaceful loricariids such as Otocinclus, Parotocinclus, and other Farlowella spp.
Breeding	Assumed to be the similar to the rest of the genus with the male guarding the eggs but has never been spawned in captivity. Any published reports have turned out to be for misidentified species.
Further Information
References	Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wienv. 6 - pp93 [29] - Pl. 8 (fig. 1)
Registered Keepers	(1) mike h, (2) Dinnie, (3) markmoten (k: 4), (4) flipperfeet. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species. Add this species to your "my cats" page.
Breeding Reports	None.
More Resources	- Shane's World Geography The Venezuelan Diary Series, Pt 15 - The hunt for Farlowella acus - CotM 2008 July - Search Planet Catfish for more on Farlowella acus - BBcode (for use in linking to this page from forum posts) - Look up Farlowella acus on AquaticRepublic.com - Look up Farlowella acus on Fishbase, I.T.I.S. or ispecies search. - URL (for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
Hits	28056 hits.
Last Update	2010 Aug 29 06:51 (species record created: 2002 Jan 11 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Farlowella acus (Kner, 1853)

Common Name(s)

Aguja (Spanish, Venezuelan), Twig Catfish

Type Locality

Caracas, Venezuela.

Synonym(s)

Acestra acus, Farlowella scolopacina, Loricaria scolopacina

Pronunciation

far LOW ella - ah kuss

Etymology

Named after W. G. Farlow, from Harvard University. This specific epithet literally means needle (acus=needle) and refers to its long, thin appearance.

Species Information

Size

163mm (6.4") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Readily identifiable by its short blunt rostrum. No other Farlowella species share the same habitat/range of F. acus.

Sexing

Males develop fairly long breeding odontodes along the sides of the rostrum.

General Remarks

This fish is highly endangered and could easily become extinct in the next twenty years. Although numerous aquarium books show photos labelled as Farlowella acus they are most likely all incorrect. It is very doubtful that this fish has ever been exported for the aquarium trade.
The holotype’s origin is listed as Caracas, Venezuela 8 August 1850. Reitzer and Page, 1996 state, “The type locality of Caracas probably refers to the general region of Venezuela.” However, I have encountered F. acus within the Rio Tuy drainage. The Rio Guaire, a tributary of the Rio Tuy, flows through Caracas and it would not be impossible that 150 years ago F. acus swam in the Rio Guaire. Thus the holotype may have actually come from the Rio Guaire or one of its feeder streams in the valley of Caracas.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Originally plentiful throughout the Lake Valencia and Rio Tuy drainages. It may have existed in the Rio Guaire (which is part of the Rio Tuy system) that runs through downtown Caracas in the past or the holotype location above may represent where the holotype was shipped from. Now restricted to handful of small rivers that feed Lake Valencia such as the Rio Aragua and the uppermost headwaters of some Rio Tuy feeder streams.
Tuy Show it on a map

(hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)
Valencia Show it on a map

(hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

6.8 - 7.6

Temperature

23.0-26.0°C or 73.4-78.8°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

Water should be clear and high in dissolved oxygen.

Husbandry Information

Feeding

Captive feeding is easy and this fish quickly adapts to live, frozen and dry foods. Algae wafers should form the bulk of the diet and be supplemented with proteins twice weekly.

Furniture

Substrate should be fine sand and rounded stones. This is a reophilic fish that rarely leaves the substrate. Driftwood is mostly absent from their natural habitat but they congregate where bamboo stalks hang into the water. It is only found in cool rivers and streams with a fair amount of current.

Compatibility

All Farlowella spp. are peaceful fish that do not compete well with aggressive tankmates. Large robust loricariids, medium to large cichlids and fast swimming shoaling fishes do not make good tankmates as Farlowella cannot compete with them for food.

Suggested Tankmates

Other small peaceful loricariids such as Otocinclus, Parotocinclus, and other Farlowella spp.

Breeding

Assumed to be the similar to the rest of the genus with the male guarding the eggs but has never been spawned in captivity. Any published reports have turned out to be for misidentified species.

Further Information

References

Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wienv. 6 - pp93 [29] - Pl. 8 (fig. 1)

Registered Keepers

(1) mike h, (2) Dinnie, (3) markmoten (k: 4), (4) flipperfeet.

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Add this species to your My Cats species list