Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Trichomycteridae (Pencil or parasitic catfishes) > Trichomycterinae
Etymology: Ituglanis: Greek, itys, ityos = circle + Greek, glanis = a fish that can eat the bait without touching the hook; a cat fish (Ref. 45335); epikarsticus: The specific name makes reference to the type of aquifer where the species occurs.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic. Tropical; ? - 25°C (Ref. 55401)
South America: single set of rimstone dams in São Mateus Cave in Brazil.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 3.4 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55401)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal soft rays: 8; Vertebrae: 36. Distinguished from its epigean and cave congeners by the combination of the following characters: small size (max. 3.4 cm SL); the higher degree of reduction in body pigmentation and in eye size, 2.0-2.1% HL; supraoccipital fontanel very reduced or absent; base and distal extremity of laminar surface of urohyal with similar widths, dorsal process short; posterior process of palatine as long as palatine length, medial concavity slightly rounded; maxilla with discrete medial-posterior projection; fronto-lachrymal 2/3 length of maxilla, anteriorly and posteriorly pointed; opercle with 9 odontodes and interopercle with 20-21 odontodes; 5 pairs of ribs (also observed in a juvenile of I. bambui); caudal skeleton with upper hypural plate triangular and lower one rectangular, neural spine or preural centrum with acute extremity, dorsal procurrent rays 14 and ventral 10 (Ref. 55401).
Occurs in pools in a set of rimstone dams (wall-shaped barriers of calcite, aragonite or other chemical deposits that impound water pools), 10-30 cm deep and with rocky bottom (Ref. 55401). A solitary species, swimming on the bottom, along the walls and sometimes at the surface of the pools (Ref. 55401).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Bichuette, M.E. and E. Trajano, 2004. Three new subterranean species of Ituglanis from central Brazil (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 15(3):243-256. (Ref. 55401)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00661 (0.00279 - 0.01564), b=2.99 (2.79 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.1 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).