Megalancistrus parananus (PETERS, 1881)

L113

SynonymsTop ↑

Pterygoplichthys parananus Peters, 1881; Chaetostomus aculeatus Perugia, 1891; Chaetostomus gigas Boulenger, 1895

Etymology

Megalancistrus: from the Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning ‘big, large, great’, and the generic name Ancistrus.

parananus: named for the Río Paraná, type locality of the species.

Classification

Order: Siluriformes Family: Loricariidae

Distribution

Distributed throughout the rios Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Type locality is ‘Río Paraná at La Paz, Entre-Ríos, Argentina’.

Maximum Standard Length

The largest officially-recorded specimen measured 588 mm.

Aquarium SizeTop ↑

Suitable only for public installations or the very largest private aquaria.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 20 – 28 °C

pH: 6.0 – 7.5

Hardness: 36 – 215 ppm

Diet

Intestinal analyses of wild specimens have shown it to feed chiefly on freshwater sponges and other aquatic invertebrates alongside smaller quantities of wood, although it’s unclear whether the latter is an essential part of the diet or ingested unintentionally while the fish are foraging.

In the aquarium it does best when offered a varied diet comprising sinking dried foods, frozen Daphnia, mosquito larvae, chironomid larvae (bloodworm), and prawn/shrimp, for, example, plus fresh fruit, parboiled potato, etc.

Home-made foods using a mixture of natural ingredients bound with gelatin are very useful since they can be tailored to contain fresh vegetables, Spirulina and meatier ingredients.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑

Can behave very aggressively in confined surroundings and should only be maintained alongside similarly-sized, robust fishes in suitably-sized aquaria (see ‘Aquarium Size’).

NotesTop ↑

This species was formerly considered to be represented by the L-numbers L113 and L234 but it appears that only the former is native to the Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay drainages, whereas L234 is collected in the rio São Francisco in eastern Brazil.

M. barrae and M. sp. ‘LDA097’ are also exported from the São Francisco system.

References

1. Ferraris, C. J., Jr., 2007 - Zootaxa 1418: 1-628
   Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types.
2. 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.
3. Stawikowski, R., A. Werner and I. Seidel, 2004 - DATZ: 1-132
   DATZ Special: L-Numbers.