Hoplias microlepis

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Hoplias microlepis
Hoplias microlepis BMNH 1864.1.26.309.tif
Paralectotype at the Natural History Museum, London.
Hoplias microlepis Regan 1908.jpg
Illustration from Biologia Centrali-Americana .
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Erythrinidae
Genus: Hoplias
Species:
H. microlepis
Binomial name
Hoplias microlepis
(Günther, 1864)
Synonyms [2]
  • Macrodon microlepis Günther, 1864

Hoplias microlepis, the smallscale wolffish, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Erythrinidae, the trahiras. This species is found in northwestern South America and in southern Central America.

Contents

Taxonomy

Hoplias microlepis was first formally described as Macrodon microlepis in 1864 by the German-born British herpetologist and ichthyologist Albert Günther with its type locality given as Rio Chagres in Panama. [2] This species is a member of the H. malabaricus species group. [3] The genus Hoplias is classified in the family Erythrinidae [2] which is within the suborder Characoidei of the order Characiformes. [4]

Etymology

Hoplias microlepis is a species within the genus Hoplias, a word derived from the Greek hoplon, which means "shield" or "armour", an allusion to the armour created by the enlarged cranial bones and large teeth of these fishes. The specific name, microlepis, means "small scaled", a reference to smaller scales arranged in longitudinal series along back of this fish compared with those on Macrodon trahira and H. intermedius . [5]

Description

Hoplias microlepis as a member of the H. malabaricus group, differs from species in the H. macropthalmus and H. lacerdae groups by having dentary bones which abruptly converge towards the symphysis of the mandibles and by having tooth plates on tongue. The other species groupsm have dentary bones which are parallel and only gently converge as they apparoch the symphysis of the mandibles and do not have tooth plates on tongue. It can be told apart from the other members of the H. malabaricus species group by having a count of between 22 and 24 scales around the caudal peduncle while the other species in the group have between 18 and 20, typically 20. The body has an elongated shape with a maximum standard length of 36 cm (14 in). [6]

Distribution and habitat

Hoplias microlepis is found in the Pacific slope drainages of southern Central America and northwestern South America. It occurs from the Coto Brus River in Costa Rica south to the Tumbes River in Ecuador and Peru, although its presence in Colmbia is uncertain and it may be being misidentified for H. malabaricus in that country. There are records from the Atlantic slope of Panama which may represent migration along the Panama Canal. It is found in freshwater occurring in rivers and impoundments. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Lyons, T.J. (2020). "Hoplias microlepis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T149103814A149121986. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T149103814A149121986.en . Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Hoplias". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  3. Mattox, G.M.T.; Bifi, A.G.; Oyakawa, O.T. (2014). "Taxonomic study of Hoplias microlepis (Günther, 1864), a trans-Andean species of trahiras (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Erythrinidae)" (PDF). Neotropical Ichthyology. 12 (2): 343–352. doi: 10.1590/1982-0224-20130174 .
  4. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer; Ronald Fricke. "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  5. Christopher Scarpf (26 April 2024). "Family ERYTHRINIDAE Valenciennes 1847 (Trahiras)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  6. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Hoplies microlepis". FishBase . February 2025 version.

Further reading