Doce basin

Its native rivers flow through one of the most densely-populated and industrialised parts of Brazil, and have suffered greatly from dam construction, water abstraction, pollution, introduced species (including over 40 exotic freshwater fishes in the rio Paraíba do Sul alone), and other forms of anthropogenic degradation. H. flammeus is now uncommon or even extinct across much of its putative natural range, and in Rio de Janeiro state only a handful of highly-fragmented populations remain at best, with the mo...

Type locality is giev as 'Rio Parahyba and tributaries at Mendez; Juiz de Fora; River Doce; River São Matheos; Rio Jequitinhonha; Rio Quenda at Santa Cruz', all of which pertain to localities within the Paraíba do Sul and Doce river systems in Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, southeastern Brazil.

This species has a somewhat confusing taxonomic history and it remains unclear whether it is conspecific with S. izecksohni (Da Cruz, 1983) or not. The latter is considered to represent a synonym of S. myersi by Costa (2007), but the majority of authors do not follow the conclusions of that study (see below) and continue to view both as valid.

Scleromystax spp. are foraging omnivores, and most will accept sinking dried foods as well as small live and frozen varieties such as chironomid larvae (bloodworm), Tubifex, etc. Feeding a varied diet will ensure the fish are in optimum condition. Under no circumstances should they be expected to survive on 'left-overs' from other inhabitants of the aquarium or relied on to 'clean' the aquarium.