Apeú

The big-eyed cachorro, Acestrorhynchus falcirostris, is a large predatory acestrorhynchid from northern Amazon drainages and the Orinoco. The two dark body stripes of the A. nasutus group appear only in its juveniles, and at 320 to 350 mm SL it grows far larger than the other members. A black fringe to the rear of the operculum gives it a 'collared' look. It needs open water, and a group must be of comparable size because acestrorhynchids are cannibalistic.

The spotted headstander, Chilodus punctatus, is a headstander from much of the Amazon, the western Orinoco and coastal rivers of Guyana and Suriname. Also called the 'checkered headstander', it lives in slow-moving rivers, oxbows and floodplain lakes, and its colour pattern appears to vary with locality. Shy and peaceful, it is sensitive to dissolved organic wastes and should never be introduced to a biologically-immature aquarium.

The brown dot peckoltia (Peckoltia oligospila), also known as L006, is a suckermouth catfish from the rios Tocantins and Capim in Brazil. Only faint spots and saddles mark its body, a pattern it shares among congeners with P. bachi and some specimens of P. furcata alone. Relatively peaceful but territorial with conspecifics, it is a cave-spawner and does best in a tank designed to simulate a flowing stream.