| SOURCE FOR OCCURRENCE IN ECUADOR: Jimenez et al. (2015). Also collected by Nathan Lujan in 2012. |
| ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Eigenmann, C.H. 1918. Eighteen new species of fishes from northwestern South America. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 56(7):673-689. |
| TYPE SPECIMENS: Field Museum of Natural History: FMNH-58465. |
| TAXONOMIC STATUS: Valid (Eschmeyer and Fricke, 2012). |
| RANGE ECUADOR: Appears to occur in northwestern Ecuador in the Santiago and Esmeraldas River drainages (Jimenez et al., 2016). |
| RANGE OUTSIDE OF ECUADOR: Dagua River basin in the Pacific coast of Colombia (Eschmeyer and Fricke, 2016). |
| COLLECTIONS IN ECUADOR: |
| MAXIMUM SIZE: 11 cm standard length (Fishbase, 2012). |
| DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Can be identified as a goby by the presence of fused pelvic fins. Can be easily distinguished from Awaous (a common freshwater goby in western Ecuador) by having a much shorter head and snout. |
| ECOLOGY: Often called "Chupapiedra" (Spanish for rock sucker) in other parts of Latin America (Bussing, 1998), species in the genus Sicydium are amphidromous. They spawn in freshwater and the larvae drift downstream and go through a planktonic phase in the ocean before returning upstream to grow and reproduce in rivers. This makes them very good colonizers of small and young rivers that exhibit extreme climatic and hydrological seasonal variation (Keith et al., 2011). In western Ecuador, Sicydium spp. appear to occur in riffle or rapids habitat in mountain rivers with very strong running water, where boulders and rocky bottoms are present (Aguirre, unpublished data). Bussing (1998) reports that other species in the genus feed on mud, diatoms, and filamentous algae that are scraped from substrates. The species of Sicydium occurring in Ecuador likely have a similar diet. Historically, juvenile Sicydium sp. may have congregated in large numbers for their upstream migrations. Jimenez et al. (2015) indicate that they are exploited at this stage by local fishing communities in northwestern Ecuador. |
| ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: Specific information on this species is not available although historically larvae of the genus were exploited as food by local inhabitants of western Ecuador (Jimenez et al., 2015). |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: Specific information on this species is not available although given its migratory life style and the state of many rivers in western Ecuador, it may be under threat. Research on its conservation status is needed. |
| LINK TO FISHBASE PAGE: Click here for link |
| SPECIES PROFILE CREATED BY: Windsor Aguirre |
| SPECIES PROFILE CONTRIBUTORS: NA |
