Leporinus
cf.
y-ophorus
NEWS105
30
Leporinuscf. tigrinus
Thisgorgeousstriped
Leporinus
likewiseoriginates fromtheVentuari
inVenezuela. Itmaybeaspeciesnew toscience,ashithertosimilarly
patterned “hare snouts” (which is what the genus name
Leporinus
means, translated) havebeenknownonly from theRioTapajos and
the Rio Xingu in Brazil. These were described as a subspecies of
Leporinus fasciatus
,
L. f. tigrinus
, in1929 and are today regarded as a
distinct species.Unfortunatelyonly three specimenswere imported,
and these veryquickly foundbuyers, sono additional observations
werepossible. It canbeexpected that these fishesgrow larger than
20cmand, like their close relatives (
L.fasciatus,L.affinis,L.y-ophorus
),
areplant-eaters.The importedspecimenswerearound8cm long.
Leporinuscf.y-ophorus
Another ring-banded
Leporinus
arrived fromVenezuelaasabycatch
with the gorgeous
Abramites
discussed below. Unfortunately there
wasonlyasinglespecimen.On thebasisof the typicalY-likepattern
of thebandsbelowthedorsal fin it isprobably
Leporinusy-ophorus,
a
species that grows to some15-20 cm longandwasdescribed from
the Rio Meta in the Orinoco drainage, which is a good
zoogeographical fit.Note that thespeciesname really iswrittenwith
ahyphen….
Leporinusbrunneus
This species clearly demonstrates why the systematics of the
Leporinus
species are so complicated.On the basis of the photos it
appears that the specimens imported by Aquarium Glaser are
different species.But fieldstudiesbybiologistsconfirm that theyare
just localvariantsandbelongtothesamespecies.Theorangedoton
theoperculumbelowtheeyecanberegardedasthemost important
diagnosticcharacteristicof the species. Initially (January2012) three
specimenswere importedwithout detailsof their provenance, then
two specimens from the Rio Ventuari followed in April 2012. The
speciesattainsamaximum lengthof25-30cm.
Leporinusdesmotes
FourspecimensofthisunusualheadstanderalsoarrivedatAquarium
Glaser from Venezuela in April 2012. The coloration is strongly
reminiscent of
L. fasciatus
&Co,but themodeof swimming is quite
different.Theblackdotsat thecornerof themouthmake thespecies
readily recognizable,and itcanattaina total lengthofaround20cm.
Leporinusbrunneus
Leporinusbrunneus
from theVentuari.
Leporinus
cf.
tigrinus
Leporinusdesmotes
