Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii

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Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Loricariidae
Genus: Pterygoplichthys
Species:
P. ambrosettii
Binomial name
Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii
Holmberg, 1893
Synonyms

Pterygoplichthys anisitsi C. H. Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903

Contents

Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii, sometimes known as the snow king pleco, [2] is a species of armored catfish native to south-central South America. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This species is distributed in the Río Plata basin, in the Paraguay, Middle Paraná, Bermejo, and Uruguay rivers, in the countries of Paraguay, Bolivia, the north/northeast of Argentina, and the west of Uruguay. [4] It is a typical species of the Paraná lower freshwater ecoregion.

Invasive tendencies

It was not originally present in the upper Paraná River, but due to flooding of geological barriers (Sete Quedas waterfalls) the species was able to expand their territory. This was due to the installation of the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant. [5]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described in the year 1893 by the physician, naturalist and writer Argentine Eduardo Ladislao Holmberg, under the scientific term for Liposarcus ambrosettii using samples caught in the Paraguay River, opposite the city of Formosa. It is included in the Hypostominae subfamily. [6]

Etymology

Etymologically, the generic name Pterygoplichthys is constructed with three words of the Greek language, where: pterygion is the diminutive of pteryx that means 'fin', hoplon is 'weapon', and ichthys is 'fish'. [7] The specific term ambrosettii honors the surname of Argentine naturalist Juan Bautista Ambrosetti. [8]

Taxonomic history

Pterygoplichthys anisitsi was described in 1903 by the German-American ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann along with Clarence Hamilton Kennedy. [9] These scientists were originally credited more so with its discovery since the description made by Holmberg went unnoticed, so in 1992 C. Weber passed the latter to the category of nomen oblitum. [10]  However, the epithet of P. ambrosettii had been cited as the valid name for this fish by Isaäc Isbrücker in 1980. [11] Other authors began to agree, so in 2007 Carl J. Ferraris Jr. determined that, being the oldest available name, it corresponds to being the senior synonym, becoming P. anisitsi to be its minor synonym. [4]

References

  1. Salvador, G.N. (2023). "Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2023: e.T186610A1815707. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T186610A1815707.en . Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  2. "Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii • Loricariidae • Cat-eLog". www.planetcatfish.com. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii". FishBase . October 2019 version.
  4. 1 2 Ferraris, C. J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types". Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1.
  5. Garcia, D. A. Z.; Almeida, F. S.; Silva e Souza, Â. T.; Britton, J. R.; Orsi, M. L. (October 2014). "Invasion characteristics of Pterygoplichthys ambrosettii (Holmberg, 1893) in the lower Paranapanema River, Brazil". Journal of Applied Ichthyology. 30 (5): 1041–1044. Bibcode:2014JApIc..30.1041G. doi: 10.1111/jai.12468 .
  6. Holmberg, E. L. (1893). "Dos peces argentinos: Stenoterommata nov. gen. inexpectata Holmb. y Liposarcus ambrosettii". Holmb. Revista del Jardín Zoológico. Tomo I (entr. XII): 353–354.
  7. Romero, P. (2002). "ichthys". An etymological dictionary of taxonomy. Madrid.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (1 June 2025). "Family LORICARIIDAE: Subfamily HYPOSTOMINAE Kner 1853 (Suckermouth Catfishes or Plecos)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  9. Eigenmann, C. H.; Kennedy, C. H. (1903). "On a collection of fishes from Paraguay, with a synopsis of the American genera of cichlids". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 497–537.
  10. Weber, C. (1992). "Revision du genre Pterygoplichthys sensu lato (Pisces, Siluriformes, Loricariidae)". Revue fr. Aquariol. 19 (1): 1–36.
  11. Isbrücker, I. (1980). "Classification and Catalogue of the mailed Loricariidae (Pisces, Siluriformes)". Vers.Techn. Geg. Inst. Tax. Zool. 22. (Zool. Mus.), Univ. Amsterdam: 1–181.