Acestridium is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Loricariidae of order Siluriformes. The type species is Acestridium discus. The genus name is derived from Latinised Greek 'agkistron' meaning hook.[1]

Acestridium
Acestridium discus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Loricariidae
Tribe: Hypoptopomatini
Genus: Acestridium
Haseman, 1911
Type species
Acestridium discus
Haseman, 1911

Acestridium species are native to small streams of the Amazon region of Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia.[2] Species of this genus are found in litter banks.[3]

Members of this genus typically are long and thin, or 'twiglike' and superficially resemble the genus Farlowella of the same family. Adult length is 5–7 cm and each species shows adaptation for camouflage in the water margins - bright green leaf like in Acestridium dichromum[4] and varigated brown in other species.[5]

Species edit

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Acestridium in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  2. ^ a b Retzer, Michael E. (2005). "Description of a new species of Acestridium (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from Colombia" (PDF). Zootaxa. 972: 1–6. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.972.1.1. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  3. ^ M. F. Catarino, A. L. Val. "Abundance and distribution of fish in litter banks of the Amazon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  4. ^ "Loricariidae :: Acestridium dichromum".
  5. ^ "Acestridium discus picture".[permanent dead link]