Ancistrus galani
| Ancistrus galani | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Division: | Teleostei |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Loricariidae |
| Genus: | Ancistrus |
| Species: | A. galani |
| Binomial name | |
| Ancistrus galani Perez and Viloria, 1994[1] | |
Ancistrus galani is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armoured catfishes, and the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes. This catfish is a cavefish which is endemic to Venezuela.
Taxonomy
Ancistrus galani was first formally described in 1994 by the Venezuelan ichthyologists Alfredo Perez Lozano and Ángel L. Viloria with its type locality given as the Los Laureles cave, Socuy River, Sierra de Perijá, in the state of Zulia, at 10°45'04"N, 72°27'42"W and at an elevation 650 m (2,130 ft), Venezuela.[1] Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes classified the genus Ancistrus in the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes, within the suckermouth armoured catfish family Loricariidae.[2] It has also been classified in the tribe Ancistrini by some authorities.[3]
Etymology
Ancistrus galani is classified in the genus Ancistrus, a name coined by Rudolf Kner when he proposed the genus but Kner did not explain the etymology of the name. It is thought to be from the Greek ágkistron, meaning a "fish hook" or the "hook of a spindle", a reference to the hooked odontodes on the interopercular bone. The specific name, galani, honours the collector of the holotype, the Venezuelan speleologist and biologist Carlos Alberto Galán.[4]
Description
Ancistrus galani reaches a standard length of 5.6 cm (2.2 in).[5] Ancistrus species develop soft, bushy tentacles on the snout when sexually mature, these are better developed in the males than they are in females.[6] Alongside Ancistrus formoso and A. cryptophthalmus, this species displays characteristics unusual among loricariids, such as reduced pigmentation and atrophied eyes, which are adaptations to a subterranean habitat that can be found in various types of cavefish.[7]
Distribution
Ancistrus galani is endemic to Venezuela where it is only known to occur in the Los Laureles cave in the Socuy River basin, part of the Lake Maracaibo phreatic system.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Ancistrus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Hypostominae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
- ↑ Armbruster, J. W. and N. K. Lujan (2025). "New tribe-level classification of Hypostominae (Loricariidae) based on optimization of morphological states on DNA-based relationships, with descriptions of three new tribes and two new genera". Neotropical Ichthyology. 22 (4)): 1–32. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-2024-0108.
- ↑ Christopher Scharpf (18 January 2026). "Family LORICARIIDAE: Subfamily HYPOSTOMINAE Kner 1853 (Suckermouth Catfishes or Plecos)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
- ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Ancistrus galani". FishBase. February 2026 version.
- ↑ "Cat-eLog LORICARIIDAE Hypostominae Ancistrus galani". PlanetCatfish.com. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
- ↑ Perez, Alfredo; Viloria, Ángel (January 1994). "Ancistrus galani n. sp. (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), with comments on biospeleological explorations in western Venezuela". Mémoires de Biospéologie. 21 – via ResearchGate.