New Pterygoplichthys

[Silurus]

Armbruster, JW & LM Page, 2006. Redescription of Pterygoplichthys punctatus and description of a new species of Pterygoplichthys (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Neotropical Ichthyology 4: 401?409.

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Moderator edit: Link above is dead. Here are current links:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1679-62252006000400003
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S16 ... ci_arttext

[Silurus]

Given what we know of the collection localities of the fish and the fact that they have large spots, the fish identified as Glyptoperichthys punctatus in the Cat-eLog should be Pterygoplichthys weberi.

[Jools]

Does this paper comment on the current validity of the genus name Glyptoperichthys - or does it just assume it's invalid?

Jools

[Silurus]

Jools, the url provided gives you the complete paper (which you can read yourself). The forum software is not parsing the url because (I suppose) of the punctuation marks in it.

[lfinley58]

Hi Jools.

Try this link. Click on Published issues and then on Vol.4, No. 4 to get to the article links. I tried to get a direct link to the specific paper, but couldn't figure out how to do it. It kept bouncing me backwards.

http://www.ufrgs.br/ni/sbijournal/INDEX.HTM

Lee

[Silurus]

Weren't Glyptoperichthys and Liposarcus synonymized with Pterygoplichthys in Armbruster's 2004 paper on loricariid phylogeny?

[lfinley58]

Hi Silurus and Jools,

Re synonomy of Glyptoperichthys and Liposarcus with Pterygoplichthys: Yes, Armbruster did that in his large 2004 paper in the Zool. Jour. Linnean Soc.

Lee

[Jools]

Hi Silurus and Jools,

Re synonomy of Glyptoperichthys and Liposarcus with Pterygoplichthys: Yes, Armbruster did that in his large 2004 paper in the Zool. Jour. Linnean Soc.

Lee

Yes, BUT, more recent scientific publications appear not to follow that move.

Jools

[Silurus]

Which ones?

This is the only one I know and it does.

[lfinley58]

Hello Jools and all.

Recently (2006) a series of papers were published in the journal Biota Colombiana (Vol.7, No.1). These papers are basically inventories of the fishes that are known from various river basins throughout Colombia.

I have just gone through all of the papers to check on the genus name usage relevant to this discussion. The results are as follows:

1. In a multi-author (eight) paper on the Tomo River the name Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps is used. In that a number of the authors involved in this paper (C. Lasso, D. Taphorn, J. A. Maldonado-Ocampo) had previously (2004) used the genus name Glyptoperichthys for this species it appears that they are following Armbruster (although his 2004 paper is not in the very short list of references).

2. In a paper on the Colombian Amazon basin (by Bogota-Gregory and Maldonado-Ocampo) the genus name Pterygolichthys is used in conjunciton with the following species: lituratus, pardalis and punctatus. All three species were placed in other genera by Weber, so again it appears that Armbruster is being followed in this paper. His 2004 paper is in the list of references.

3.There is also one paper that takes a contrary view. The area covered is the Putumayo river basin in the Colombia/Peru area. Four authors are involved, of which Hernan Ortega (of Peru) is senior. In this paper the names Liposarcus pardalis and Glyptoperichthys punctatus are used. The Armbruster 2004 paper is in the references, but apparently not followed for these fishes.

So that is what I came up with regarding the use (or not) of the Armbruster vision of Pterygoplichthys in a connected series of recent publications. If I come up with anything else I will let you know.It will be interesting to see how Carl F. handles these fishes in his forthcoming checklist of catfishes.

Lee

[lfinley58]

Hi Jools and all.

I just noted an interesting little statement in the third paper that I mentioned above (Ortega, et al., on the Rio Putumayo).

In the introduction to the paper it is specifically noted that Armbruster (2004) is used as the main reference for Loricariidae. So it might appear that the use of the genera names Liposarcus and Glyptoperichthys in the paper were only a lapsus and that they in fact follow Jon's vision of Pterygoplichthys.

Lee

[Jools]

Given what we know of the collection localities of the fish and the fact that they have large spots, the fish identified as

Glyptoperichthys punctatus

in the Cat-eLog should be Pterygoplichthys weberi.

The collection localities of the two rva.jp pictured fish are from Brazil, all the rest are from species exported out of Iquitos and collected in the Madre De Dios region. Given the map on the paper, the latter appears to be in the G. punctatus range and the former definitely is. So range is an issue.

However, I totally agree the belly patterning of spots is a match. What I'm going to do in the meantime is move all but the Brazilian fish into P. weberi (and also move everything "big & sailfin" into that genus too).

<img width="800" class="bodyline" src="http://www.dignall.com/tresfronteras/Jo ... G_2109.JPG">

BTW, I think the image above be P. weberi too. That's Shane (with a mosquito sucking blood from his hand) holding on to it, IIRC it was collected from near the Rio Yavari, it's a pretty close match to the description.



Jools

[bekateen]

Considering the questions lately about mini/dwarf ranger plecos (HERE: "New Ranger" or "Mini Ranger" plecos?), and the fact that today we added some nice new photos to the CLOG for two species of Pterygoplichthys, I'm extracting and posting the taxonomic key for the genus, presented in the above paper. I don't know if it still holds up as of 2019, but for lack of a better one, here it is:

Key to the Species of Pterygoplichthys (partially modified from Weber, 1992 and Page et al., 1996):

• 1. Supraoccipital forming elevated median crest higher than the plates in the nuchal region... 2
• 1.' Supraoccipital flat or rounded and on same plane as plates of nuchal region, not forming elevated crest... 6

[bekateen]

• 2. Dorsal fin without spots or vermiculations. Caudal fin dark with much lighter upper spine. Height of flap between anterior and posterior nares more than 0.6 diameter of orbit. Body without spots, usually with large dark dorsal saddles...
  Pterygoplichthys scrophus
  (Cope, 1874)
• 2'. Dorsal fin with light or dark spots or vermiculations. Caudal fin without much lighter upper spine. Height of flap between anterior and posterior nares less than 0.6 diameter of orbit. Body with dark or light spots, without large dorsal saddles... 3

[bekateen]

• 3. Venter with uncoalesced spots... 4
• 3'. Venter with spots coalescing to form vermiculations... 5

[bekateen]

• 4. Venter with large, dark spots...
  Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps
  (Kner, 1854)
• 4'. Venter with light spots...
  Pterygoplichthys xinguensis
  (Weber, 1991)

[bekateen]

• 5. Weakly developed hypertrophied odontodes on evertible cheek plates; ratio of preopercular height to eye diameter 2.9-3.8...
  Pterygoplichthys lituratus
  (Kner, 1854)
• 5'. Well developed hypertrophied odontodes on evertible cheek plates; ratio of preopercular height to eye diameter 3.7-4.1...
  Pterygoplichthys parnaibae
  (Weber, 1991)

[bekateen]

• 6. Buccal papilla at least shallowly divided medially (Fig. 1a and b)... 7
• 6'. Buccal papilla single, tongue-shaped structure (Fig. 1c)... 8

Figure 1

[bekateen]

• 7. Few spots on abdomen and base of fins. Lateral plates with long keel odontodes directed nearly perpendicular to body; longest keel odontodes in adult longer than lateral-line plates. Buccal papilla shallowly divided in adult. SL/cleithral width ratio 3.3-3.4...
  Pterygoplichthys weberi
  Armbruster & Page, 2006
• 7'. Many, small spots on abdomen and base of fins. Lateral plates with shorter keel odontodes directed posteriorly; longest keel odontodes in adult shorter than lateral-line plates. Buccal papilla deeply divided at all sizes. SL/cleithral width ratio 3.6-4.0...
  Pterygoplichthys punctatus
  Günther, 1864

[bekateen]

• 8. Adult typically without hypertrophied odontodes on evertible cheek plates (some very large adults may have one or two very slightly elongated cheek odontodes). Usually 12-14 (occasionally 11) dorsal-fin rays. Occurring in the rio Amazonas, río Orinoco, and rio Paraná drainages... 9
• 8.' Adult with hypertrophied odontodes on evertible cheek plates. Usually 10-11 (occasionally 12) dorsal-fin rays. Occurring in the rio São Francisco, río Magdalena, and lago Maracaibo drainages... 13

[bekateen]

• 9. Light spots on dark background. Ventral surface consisting of light and dark vermiculations with light vermiculations wider than dark vermiculations or with light spots on a dark background... 10
• 9'. Dark spots on light background. Ventral surface with dark spots on light background or with light and dark vermiculations of same width or light vermiculations narrower than dark vermiculations... 11

[bekateen]

• 10. Abdomen usually with a complex network of light and dark vermiculations. Light areas on body wider than dark areas. Rio Paraná drainage...
  Pterygoplichthys anisitsi
  Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903
• 10.' Abdomen with white spots usually separate, at most two to three combining. Light areas on body narrower than dark areas. Rio Tocantins drainage...
  Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus
  (Weber, 1991)

[bekateen]

• 11. Dark spots discrete, never coalescing or forming dark chevrons on posterior half of body...
  Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus
  (Hancock, 1828)
• 11'. Dark spots often coalescing to form vermiculations and/or lines on abdomen and head and chevrons on caudal peduncle... 12

[bekateen]

• 12. Adults with a geometric pattern of light lines on head. Spots on abdomen of adults mostly discrete, usually no more than five spots coalescing to form short vermiculations. Lateral spots coalescing to form chevrons that outline the posterior border of the lateral plates (particularly strong ventrally posteriorly to the pectoral fin). Juveniles with chevrons laterally, abdominal spots separate...
  Pterygoplichthys pardalis
  (Castelnau, 1855)
• 12'. Adults with spots and blotches on head and no geometric pattern of light lines. Nearly all spots on abdomen of adults coalescing to form vermiculations (spots may be separate in juveniles). Lateral spots usually separate, not forming chevrons. Juveniles with spots or blotches laterally...
  Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus
  (Weber, 1991)

[bekateen]

• 13. SL/HL = 2.7-3.0; SL/interdorsal length = 5.9-8.0. Occurring in the rio São Francisco of eastern Brazil...
  Pterygoplichthys etentaculatus
  (Spix & Agassiz, 1829)
• 13'. SL/HL = 3.0-3.4; SL/interdorsal length 4.9-5.8. Occurring west of the Andes in the río Magdalena and lago Maracaibo drainages... 14

[bekateen]

• 14. SL/HL = 3.0-3.3. Río Magdalena drainage... *
  Pterygoplichthys undecimalis
  (Steindachner, 1878)
• 14'. SL/HL = 3.3-3.4. Lago Maracaibo drainage... *
  Pterygoplichthys zuliaensis
  Weber, 1991

* Recent examination suggests that these measurements are not sufficient for separating these two species (J.W. Armbruster, pers. obs.), but this must be examined in greater detail.