Niobichthys
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Loricariidae
Subfamily:	Hypoptopomatinae
Genus:	Niobichthys Schaefer & Provenzano, 1998[2]
Species:	N. ferrarisi
Binomial name
Niobichthys ferrarisi Schaefer & Provenzano, 1998[3]

Niobichthys is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armored catfishes, and the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae, the cascudinhos.^[2] The only species in the genus is Niobichthys ferrarisi,^[3] a catfish which is endemic to Venezuela. It is only known to occur in the Baria River, a tributary of the Rio Negro in Amazonas state, where it is found in rocky rapids.^[1] This species reaches a standard length of 7 cm (2.8 in).^[4]

Niobichthys suffixes -ichthys, Greek for "fish", onto Niobe, a figure from Greek mythology whose children were killed by Apollo causing her to turned to stone by Zeus and moved to a mountain peak, which remained eternally wet with her tears. This is a reference to the clouds surrounding Cerra La Neblina, this species' type locality. The Specific named honors the American ichthyologist Carl J. Ferraris, Jr., co-discoverer of this species when on an expedition to the Cerr La Neblina in 1984, in recognition of his work on catfish taxonomy and Neotropical ichthyology.^[5]

References

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