Erythrinidae - Hoplias microlepis (Gunther, 1864) |
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| SOURCE FOR OCCURRENCE IN ECUADOR: A major predator, this species is very common in the Guayas River drainage. There are many references for its occurrence in the area (e.g., Eigenmann, 1922; Barnhill et al., 1974; Gery, 1977; Glodek, 1978; Barriga, 1991; Laaz et al., 2009). |
| ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Gunther, A. 1864. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Physostomi, containing the families Siluridae, Characinidae, Haplochitonidae, Sternoptychidae, Scopelidae, Stomiatidae in the collection of the British Museum. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. v. 5: i-xxii + 1-455. |
| TYPE SPECIMENS: |
| TAXONOMIC STATUS: Valid (Eschmeyer and Fricke, 2011). However, this species has a disjunct distribution with populations in Ecuador and Central America apparently isolated. A genetic analysis to examine the degree of differentiation between South and Central American populations seems warranted. |
| RANGE ECUADOR: Guayas River drainage. |
| RANGE OUTSIDE OF ECUADOR: This species has a disjunct distribution occurring in the Guayas River and in Panama and Costa Rica (Eigenmann, 1922; Glodek, 1978; Bussing, 2002). Luque Sanchez (2008) also reported it from the Tumbes region in northwestern Peru and it is listed as occurring in Pacific drainages of Peru by Ortega and Vari (1986). Consequently, this species may also occur in the Pacific drainages south of the Guayas River in southern Ecuador and in Northwestern Peru. |
| COLLECTIONS IN ECUADOR: |
| MAXIMUM SIZE: 40 cm (Bussing, 2002) |
| DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Hoplias microlepis is easily distinguished from most other species in western Ecuador by its distinctive body shape, large size, coloration, and lack of an adipose fin. It is the only species of this genus in the Guayas River drainage. It is similar to its congener, H. malabaricus, which also occurs in Ecuador. The two species can be distinguished by scale counts along the lateral line, with H. microlepis having smaller and more numerous scales (Glodek, 1978). Glodek (1978) indicates that H. microlepis has 43-47 scales along the lateral line and 11 rows of scales around the caudal peduncle, while H. malabaricus has 39-44 scales along the lateral line and 9 rows of scales around the caudal peduncle. H. malabaricus does not appear to occur in the Guayas River drainage and is likely restricted to the Amazon Basin (east of the Andes) and the northern coastal drainage system (Esmeraldas province) in Ecuador (Barriga, 1991; 1994). Outside of Ecuador, H. malabaricus has one of the widest distributions of any neotropical fish occurring in most major rivers from Central America to Argentina (Fishbase, 2011) and may constitute a species complex. |
| ECOLOGY: Hoplias microlepis, known in Ecuador as the "guanchiche", is a large, ecologically important predatory fish. This species appears to prefer slow moving waters or swamps with sand or mud bottoms (Bussing, 2002; Fishbase, 2011). |
| ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: This is an important food fish for people in rural parts of Guayas and Los Rios provinces, despite often being heavily infested by parasites (e.g., Jimenez and Alava, 2009). |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: NA although the species is heavily exploited as a food species. |
| LINK TO FISHBASE PAGE: Click here for link |
| SPECIES PROFILE CREATED BY: Windsor Aguirre |
| SPECIES PROFILE CONTRIBUTORS: NA |
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