| SOURCE FOR OCCURRENCE IN ECUADOR: Jimenez Prado et al. (2015), Barriga (2012). |
| ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Boulenger, G.A. 1902. Descriptions of two new fishes of the genus Loricaria from north-western Ecuador. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 7) 9(49):69-71. |
| TYPE SPECIMENS: |
| TAXONOMIC STATUS: Valid. Name recently changed from Sturisoma frenatum. by Covain et al. (2015) as referenced in Eschmeyer et al. (2017). |
| RANGE ECUADOR: Reported from the Santiago-Cayapas drainage in northwestern Ecuador close to the border with Colombia (Jimenez Prado et al., 2015). |
| RANGE OUTSIDE OF ECUADOR: None. |
| COLLECTIONS IN ECUADOR: |
| MAXIMUM SIZE: Grows to 250 mm standard length. Reported common to 200 mm (Jimenez Prado et al., 2015). |
| DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Species in this genus can be easily distinguished from most other loricariids by their very elongate bodies and the filaments extending from the fins in adults. They can be distinguished from Rineloricaria, which also has a somewhat elongate body, by having a much longer snout and differences in their color patterns. Species in the genus Sturisomatichthys have a dark band of pigment extending from the snout along the back extending posteriorly through part or the entirety of the abdominal region and dark pigment on the pectoral and dorsal fins, while the coloration is much more irregular forming a blotched pattern in Rineloricaria. Sturisomatichthys frenatus differs from its congener S. panamense because its predorsal region fits three or less times in its standard length, while this distance fits 3.3 times or more in S. panamense (Jimenez Prado et al., 2015). |
| ECOLOGY: Little is known about the specific ecology of this species. Like other loricariids, it is found scraping algae and organic matter off large rocks and logs (Jimenez Prado et al., 2015). Jimenez Prado et al. (2015) report that it has one of the broadest altitudinal ranges of the loricariids occuring in the Santiago-Cayapas drainage. |
| ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: Not of economic importance as a food fish. May have some importance as an aquarium fish given its attractive body form. |
| CONSERVATION STATUS: Unknown. |
| LINK TO FISHBASE PAGE: Click here for link |
| SPECIES PROFILE CREATED BY: Windsor Aguirre |
| SPECIES PROFILE CONTRIBUTORS: Pedro Jimenez Prado |
