Metadata

Ancistrus galani

Perez and Viloria 1994

Ancistrus galani
Drawing by Rhian Kendall from photograph in Perez and Viloria (1994). NB Dorsal view!
ORDERSUB-ORDERFAMILY
SiluriformesLoricarioideiLoricariidae

Synonyms

None.

Country

Venezuela

Types

Holotype: MBLUZ-04351, 37.3mm SL. Paratype: MCP-15634 55.8mm SL. (Details from Table 1 in Perez and Viloria (1994), the SL of the paratype is given elsewhere as 52.82mm).

Distribution

Known only from the type locality: Cueva de Los Laureles (=Zu 31), Rio Socuy, Sierra de Perija, Zulia State, Venezuela (10o24’04”N, 72o27’42”W). The stygobitic trichomycterid Trichomycterus spelaeus inhabits a nearby system (DoNascimiento, Villarreal and Provenzano 2001)

Habitat

The cave contains a population of Oilbirds which may provide a source of food. It is also inhabited by species of freshwater crabs in the genus Chaceus (Pseudothelphusidae) including Chaceus caecus which is stygomorphic and stygobitic. See Rodriguez and Bosque (1990) for further habitat details.

Systematics

The most closely related species is Ancistrus bevifilis bodenhameri which lives in both epigean and hypogean habitats. There is a stygophilic population of this species on Cueva de Los Laureles. It is thought that A. galani evolved during the Pleistocene and that the current sympatry is due to the much more recent colonisation of the hypogean domain by Ancistrus bevifilis bodenhameri.

Conservation Status

TLO [NE]

Museum Holdings

As above only.

Internet Resources

Web page for the Family Loricariidae

Key References

Rodriguez, G. and Bosque, C. Journal Article 1990 A stygobiont crab Chaceus caecus n. sp. and its related stygophile species Chaceus motiloni Rodriguez, 1980 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Pseudothelphusidae) from a cave in the Cordillera de Perija, Venezuela
Bleckmann, H., Niemann, U. and Fritzsch, B. Journal Article 1991 Peripheral and central aspects of the acoustic and lateral line system of a bottom dwelling catfish, Ancistrus sp.
Viloria, A., Herrera, F. and Galan, C. Journal Article 1992 Resultados preliminares del estudio del material biologico colectado en Mesa Turik y Cuenca del Rio Socuy
Perez, A. and Viloria, A. Journal Article 1994 Ancistrus galani n. sp. (Siluriforme: Loricariidae), with comments on biospeological explorations in western Venezuela
DoNascimiento, C., Villarreal, O. and Provenzano, F. Journal Article 2001 Descripcion de una nueve especie de bagre anoftalmo del genero Trichomycterus (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae), de una vueva de la Sierra de Perija, Venezuela
Armbruster, J.W. Journal Article 2004 Phylogenetic relationships of the suckermouth armoured catfishes (Loricariidae) with emphasis on the Hypostominae and the Ancistrinae
Reis, R.E., Trajano, E. and Hingst-Zaher, E. Journal Article 2006 Shape variation in surface and cave populations of the armoured catfish Ancistrus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the São Domingos karst area, Upper Tocantins River, Brazil.
Galán, C., Herrera, F. and Rincón, A. Journal Article 2009 Biodiversidad y biomasa global de la Cueva de Los Laureles (Sierra de Perijá, Venezuela)
Lujan, N.K. and Armbruster, J.W. Journal Article 2012 Morphological and functional diversity of the mandible in suckermouth armored catfishes (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)
Splendore de Borba, R., Mariotto, S., Centofante, L., Zawadzki C.H. and Parise-Maltempi, P.P. Journal Article 2019 Molecular discrimination of Ancistrus lineages (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) using barcode DNA tool
Mendes, I.S., Prosdocimi, F., Schomaker-Bastos, A., Furtado, C., Ferreira, R.L., .Pompeu, P.S. and Carvalho, D.C. Journal Article 2019 On the evolutionary origin of Neotropical cavefish Ancistrus cryptophthalmus (Siluriformes, Loricariidae) based on the mitogenome and genetic structure of cave and surface populations
Glugoski, L., Deon, G., Schott, S., Vicari, M.R., Nogaroto, V. and Moreira-Filho, O. Journal Article 2020 Comparative cytogenetic analyses in Ancistrus species (Siluriformes: Loricariidae)
Meng, F., Yin, X., Zhang, T., Zhao, C., Xue, X., Xia, X., Zhu, X., Duan, Z., Liu, B. and Liu, Y. Journal Article 2021 The first determination and analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Ancistrus temmincki (Siluriformes:Loricariidae)
Santos da Silva, K., Glugoski, L., Vicari, M.R., de Souza, A.C.P., Noronha, R.C.R., Pieczarka, J.C. and Nagamachi, C.Y. Journal Article 2022 Chromosomal diversification in Ancistrus species (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) Inferred from repetitive sequence analysis