Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Loricariidae (Armored catfishes) > Hypoptopomatinae
Etymology: Otocinclus: Greek, ous, oto = ear + Latin, cinclus = latticework; in allusion to the holes of the head in the ears (Ref. 45335); mimulus: Specific name derived from a Latin word, mimulus, diminutive of minus, meaning actor, given with reference to the mimicry in color pattern with Corydoras diphyes.
More on authors: Axenrot & Kullander.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal. Tropical
South America: tributaries of río Monday, a right bank tributary of the río Paraná in Paraguay.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 4.3 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 52874)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Vertebrae: 22 - 23. Presence of an iris diverticulum; elevated, enlarged odontodes at posterior supraoccipital tip; lateral series 24-25; lateral line canals only on first 4-6 anterior plates in median series; lateral trunk coloration variable, including either row of 4-6 distinct dark blotches or distinct dark stripe extending from pterotic posterior process to base of caudal fin, or diffuse mixture of those two color patterns; premaxillary teeth 14-18 (commonly 15-16); mandibular teeth 12-16 (commonly 14); caudal vertebrae 15-17, modally 17; triangular pigment mark at anterior dorsal- fin base occasionally faint or absent (Ref. 52874).
Facultative air-breathing in the genus (Ref. 126274); Found in stream with dark, slightly turbid water, flowing through a landscape of mixed low forest and pasture (Ref. 52874). Collected at the margin of an open field, but the stream flowed through dense low forest left along its bank and providing shadow (Ref. 52874). Usually occurs in areas with sandy bottom, bank vegetation entering water or with marginal aquatic plants, dark, clear or slightly turbid water and limited associated fauna (Ref. 52874). Mimics Corydoras diphyes (Ref. 52874). Mimicry is unusual because the two species occupy different microhabitats and it is hypothesized to operate with a primarily visual predator moving between the microhabitats, tentatively identified as the cichlid Crenicichla lepidota (Ref. 52874).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Axenrot, T.E. and S.O. Kullander, 2003. Corydoras diphyes (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) and Otocinclus mimulus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), two new species of catfishes from Paraguay, a case of mimetic association. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 14(3):249-272. (Ref. 52874)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Internet sources
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=0.00851 (0.00374 - 0.01935), b=3.09 (2.90 - 3.28), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
