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: Scleronema: Greek, skleros = hard + Greek,nema = filament (Ref. 45335); mate: Named for the herb ‘mate’ used as an infusion in a traditional drink (‘chimarrão’) from South Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Also, the type locality, Venâncio Aires, is known as the Terra do Chimarrão; noun in apposition.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal. Tropical
South America: Brazil (4 tributaries of the rio Jacuí (rio Caí, rio Pardo, rio Taquari, and rio dos Sinos), laguna dos Patos system.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 122319)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 10; Anal soft rays: 6 - 7; Vertebrae: 34 - 35. This species is distinguished from all its congeners, except operculatum by the following characters: presence of the rounded blotches at the midlateral line as large as or
smaller than opercle (vs. rounded blotches larger than opercle or absent); differs from S. operculatum by having the maxillary barbel longer than half-length of the head (vs. shorter than half-length of head); tips of the pectoral-fin rays not extending beyond the interadial membrane (vs. extending beyond interadial membrane), skin flap in the posterior margin of the opercle rounded and short (vs. skin flap pointed and long); fleshy flap at the base of the maxillary barbel, thin, restricted to the maxilla and with distal margin rounded (vs. fleshy flap located anteriorly, thick, prolonged up to
the snout and with distal margin straight); caudal fin uniformly brown (vs. fin with a transversal black bar distally) (Ref. 122319).
: Inhabits rivers and streams with sand- and gravel bottoms. In the rio Pardo basin, the species is collected syntopically with S. macanuda (Ref. 122319).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Ferrer, J. and L.R. Malabarba, 2020. Systematic revision of the Neotropical catfish genus Scleronema (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae), with descriptions of six new species from Pampa grasslands. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 18(2):1-81. (Ref. 122319)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = No PD50 data [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).
