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Anostomus ternetzi FERNÁNDEZ-YÉPEZ, 1949

Ternetz's Anostomus

Etymology

Anostomus: from the Greek ana, meaning ‘up’, and stoma, meaning ‘mouth’ in reference to the upturned mouthparts in members of the genus.

ternetzi: named for Dr. Carl Ternetz.

Classification

Order: Characiformes Family: Anostomidae

Distribution

This species is widely-distributed in the Río Orinoco system in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela plus coastal river drainages in Guyana, Suriname and  French Guiana including the Essequibo and Mazaruni.

Type locality is ‘Palital, Estado Guárico, Venezuela’ which appears to correspond to a wetland called Esteros de Palital in the Aguaro-Guariquito National Park of Guárico state, northern Venezuela.

Its distribution in Brazil is somewhat unclear with patchy records existing from the Araguaia and Xingu river basins.

Habitat

Typically found in rocky areas at the edge of fast-flowing stretches of rivers and streams where it grazes on algae and small invertebrates.

Maximum Standard Length

100 – 125 mm.

Aquarium SizeTop ↑

A tank with base dimensions of 120 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent should be the smallest considered.

Maintenance

biotope-style set-up could consist of a sandy substrate, piles of smooth rocks and driftwood roots and branches, some of which should penetrate the water surface.

Aquatic vegetation can be included if you wish but is likely to be eaten.

Provide well-oxygenated water with a decent amount of movement and use bright lighting to encourage the growth of algae which will be grazed on by the fish.

A well-fitting cover is essential as Anostomus spp. are excellent jumpers.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 20 – 28 °C

pH: 5.5 – 7.5

Hardness: 18 – 268 ppm

Diet

Omnivorous but primarily a herbivore.

Offer small live and frozen foods as well as plenty of vegetable matter in the form of blanched spinach, lettuce, cucumber, courgette, algae wafers, etc.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑

Although it occurs in large shoals in nature, it tends to be very quarrelsome with conspecifics if only a few individuals are kept.

It can be maintained in groups of 6 or more in larger tanks, but otherwise keep just a single specimen in a community of peaceful medium to large fishes.

Possibilities include larger characids, loricariids, doradids and peaceful cichlids, with reophilic species particularly suitable.

Sexual Dimorphism

Unknown.

Reproduction

Unrecorded.

NotesTop ↑

Anostomus currently contains five valid species though only A. anostomus and A. ternetzi are well-known in the aquarium hobby.

A phylogentic study by Sidlauskas and Vari (2008) demonstrated the genus as recognised at the time to represent a polyphyletic lineage.

Three species, A. intermedius, A. plicatus and A. spiloclistron, were found to be more closely-related to the genera Gnathodolus, Sartor and Synaptolaemus than to other congeners and therefore placed into the new genus Petulanos, with P. plicatus as type species.

The family Anostomidae is distributed throughout much of tropical and subtropical South America from northwestern Colombia to central Argentina.

The majority of species are moderately-elongate and somewhat rounded in shape although there are some exceptions, e.g., the relatively deep-bodied Abramites.

Greater diversity is apparent in the range of oral morphology, however, and members exhibit a wide range of adaptations in dentition and jaw structure.

A number of anostomids tend to swim at an oblique ‘head-down’ angle which has given rise to them being referred to by the generalised vernacular term ‘headstanders’.

References

  1. Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander and C. J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.), 2003 - EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre: i-xi + 1-729
    Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. CLOFFSCA.
  2. Sidlauskas, B. L. and R. P. Vari, 2008 - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154(1): 70-210
    Phylogenetic relationships within the South American fish family Anostomidae (Teleostei, Ostariophysi, Characiformes).

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