Pimelodella kronei

Pimelodella kronei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Heptapteridae
Genus: Pimelodella
Species: P. kronei
Binomial name
Pimelodella kronei
(A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1907)

Pimelodella kronei is a species of three-barbeled catfish endemic to Brazil. Discovered by the German naturalist Sigismund Ernst Richard Krone, it was the first troglobitic fish described in Brazil.[1]

Description

The Pimelodella kronei is an endemic troglobitic species, so exclusively subterranean, found in cave streams along the Betari River basin, a tributary of the upper Ribeira de Iguape River. The species is adapted to food scarcity typical of the underground and seems to be in the midst of a process of loss of criptobiotic habits - the blind catfish are little or no photophobic and spend a lot of time actively exploring the whole environment, not only the bottom but also the water column and the surface, and as other troglobitic fish, is oriented toward any stimulus, apparently interpreting them as a sign of food.[2]

It is highly susceptible to environmental fluctuations, depending on the relative stability of the underground,[3] and with low rates of reproduction and growth (it grows less than 1 mm a month, but has high longevity of 15 to 20 years) and therefore it presents low capacity to replace the population losses due to natural or anthropogenic causes.[2] The increase in activity and the loss of these defense mechanisms makes it a very vulnerable species.[3] This fish reaches a length of 20.2 centimetres (8.0 in) SL.[4]

See also

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Guil, Ana Luiza Feigol, Ana Luiza Feigol. "Ecologia populacional do bagre cego de Iporanga, Pimelodella kronei (Siluriformes: Heptateridae), do Vale do Alto Ribeira, Iporanga - SP: uma comparação com Trajano, 1987". Biblioteca Digital. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 Trajano, Eleonora. "Os bagres cegos de Iporanga". Editora Marcelo Notare. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 Instituto Chico Mendes. "Bagre-cego de Iporanga - Pimelodella kronei". Instituto Chico Mendes. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  4. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). "Pimelodella kronei" in FishBase. December 2011 version.


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