| SOURCE FOR OCCURRENCE IN ECUADOR: This species is common in the Guayas, Chone, Portoviejo and Esmeraldas basins of western Ecuador. There are many references for its occurrence in the area (e.g., Eigenmann, 1922; Ovchynnyk, 1971; Glodek, 1978; Ferraris, 2007; Laaz et al., 2009; Laaz & Torres, 2010). |
| ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Günther, A. 1860. Third list of cold-blooded vertebrata collected by Mr. Fraser in Ecuador. Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1860 (pt 2): 233-240, Pl. 10. |
| TYPE SPECIMENS: |
| TAXONOMIC STATUS: Valid (Eschmeyer and Fricke, 2011). |
| RANGE ECUADOR: Guayas River drainage, Portoviejo and Chone rivers in Manabi Province, and Esmeraldas River. |
| RANGE OUTSIDE OF ECUADOR: Patia River, Colombia (Maldonado et al., 2005). |
| COLLECTIONS IN ECUADOR: |
| MAXIMUM SIZE: 20 cm (Laaz et al, 2009). |
| DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: This species is distinguished from other catfishes by having the anterior surface of pectoral-fin spine without hooks, a prominent dark brown stripe present laterally, maxillary barbells extending well past the adipose-fin origin, and caudal-fin lobes of equal length (Glodek, 1978). |
| ECOLOGY: Pimelodella modestus is known in Ecuador as the “bagre chillo”. It is an ecologically important omnivorous fish that occurs in rivers and streams. In smaller forest streams they may inhabit catfish burrows which they share with a number of other fishes (Glodek, 1978). |
| ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: This species is not of economic importance and lacks a commercial market in rural western Ecuador (Laaz et al., 2009). |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: Unknown, although this species is fairly common in southwestern Ecuador. |
| LINK TO FISHBASE PAGE: Click here for link |
| SPECIES PROFILE CREATED BY: Enrique Laaz |
| SPECIES PROFILE CONTRIBUTORS: NA |
