Ancistrus formoso • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Ancistrus formoso** Sabino & Trajano, 1997
Common Name(s)	Blind Cave Bristlenose
Type Locality	Buraco do Ducho cave, Serra da Bodoquena, Município de Bonito, 21°08'S, 56°28'W, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Pronunciation	an SISS truss
Etymology	The name Ancistrus is derived from the Greek word agkistron, meaning hook, in reference to the interopercular odontodes that are hooked. Named for the Formoso phreatic (groundwater) system in Brazil where this species was found.
Species Information
Size	90mm (3.5") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Mature males and sometimes females have soft tentacles (bushy fleshy growths) on the snout - this is unique to the genus Ancistrus. The only species of naturally occurring Ancistrus totally devoid of pigmentation.
Sexing	Typical for the genus with males possessing the so-called ''bushy nose''. Females also may have much smaller growths on the head but to a much lesser extent.
General Remarks	Discovered in 1992, collected in 1995, described in 1997.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Cave in Formoso phreatic system, Rio Formoso basin, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay, Upper Paraguay, Formoso (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Ancistrus should be fed mainly on vegetarian foods. Prepared foods include algae wafers and spirulina based sinking food. Vegetables such as courgette/zucchini, and (English) cucumber are an excellent addition to the diet, along with the odd, small amount of more meaty foods.
Furniture	Reacts negatively to light.
Compatibility	A good complement to most aquariums, they are not aggressive to other species. Males may fight over territory if kept in too small a tank.
Suggested Tankmates	Appropriate with most community fish that aren't overly big or aggressive.
Breeding	Unreported.
Further Information
References	Revue française d'Aquariologie Herpétologie v. 24 (no. 3-4)
Registered Keepers	(1) mini-fée, (2) mante-religieuse, who also notes: "Adult(8 cm),doesn't hide too much,only for the fist 2 weeks I got her.Now it's always one of the first fish to show up when I feed them.Even stay at front side of aquarium in daytime(waiting for food and cleaning deco).", (3) nvcichlids, (4) koter73, (5) gregs1443, (6) Lakatu. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.
Breeding Reports	None.
	Search Planet Catfish for more on Ancistrus formoso
	Look up Ancistrus formoso on AquaticRepublic.com
BBCode	(for use in linking to this page from forum posts)
	(for use in linking to the species from anywhere on the web)
	Look up Ancistrus formoso on Fishbase
	Get or print a QR code for this species profile, or try our BETA label creator.
Hits	15607 hits.
Last Update	2013 Jan 07 15:17 (species record created: 2003 Aug 16 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Ancistrus formoso Sabino & Trajano, 1997

Common Name(s)

Blind Cave Bristlenose

Type Locality

Buraco do Ducho cave, Serra da Bodoquena, Município de Bonito, 21°08'S, 56°28'W, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Pronunciation

an SISS truss

Etymology

The name Ancistrus is derived from the Greek word agkistron, meaning hook, in reference to the interopercular odontodes that are hooked. Named for the Formoso phreatic (groundwater) system in Brazil where this species was found.

Species Information

Size

90mm (3.5") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Mature males and sometimes females have soft tentacles (bushy fleshy growths) on the snout - this is unique to the genus Ancistrus.

The only species of naturally occurring Ancistrus totally devoid of pigmentation.

Sexing

Typical for the genus with males possessing the so-called ''bushy nose''. Females also may have much smaller growths on the head but to a much lesser extent.

General Remarks

Discovered in 1992, collected in 1995, described in 1997.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Cave in Formoso phreatic system, Rio Formoso basin, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay, Upper Paraguay, Formoso (click on these areas to find other species found there)

(Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

Ancistrus should be fed mainly on vegetarian foods. Prepared foods include algae wafers and spirulina based sinking food. Vegetables such as courgette/zucchini, and (English) cucumber are an excellent addition to the diet, along with the odd, small amount of more meaty foods.

Furniture

Reacts negatively to light.

Compatibility

A good complement to most aquariums, they are not aggressive to other species. Males may fight over territory if kept in too small a tank.

Suggested Tankmates

Appropriate with most community fish that aren't overly big or aggressive.

Breeding

Unreported.

Further Information

References

Revue française d'Aquariologie Herpétologie v. 24 (no. 3-4)

Registered Keepers

(1) mini-fée, (2) mante-religieuse, who also notes: "Adult(8 cm),doesn't hide too much,only for the fist 2 weeks I got her.Now it's always one of the first fish to show up when I feed them.Even stay at front side of aquarium in daytime(waiting for food and cleaning deco).", (3) nvcichlids, (4) koter73, (5) gregs1443, (6) Lakatu.

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

Breeding Reports

None.