Limiting Factors and Behavioral Ecology of Four Loricariid Catfishes

[Walter]

Power, Mary E. 2003.
Life Cycles, Limiting Factors and Behavioral Ecology of Four Loricariid Catfishes in a Panamanian Stream.
G. Arratia, B.G. Kapoor, M. Chardon, & R. Diogo. (eds.) Catfishes. Vol. II

Summary:
The Loricariidae, a Neotropical family of armored catfish, is the fifth most
diverse fish family in the world (Nelson, 1994), with more than 600
species (possibly more than 800 species; Scott Schaefer, pers. comm.).
Loricariids occur in small streams to large rivers from southern South
America north to Panama (Burgess, 1989; Buck and Sazima, 1995).
Loricariid populations have also naturalized in a few warm-water Habitats
in North America where they have been introduced by humans (e.g.,
Barron 1964; Nico and Martin 2001). Ichthyologists and aquarists have
long been fascinated by this group but relatively few long-term studies
have documented their lives in nature.
In this chapter, I summarize field observations on the behavior and
natural history of loricariids near the northern boundary of the family.


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