Animalia > Chordata > Siluriformes > Loricariidae > Pterygoplichthys > Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus

Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus (Sailfish catfish; Sailfin catfish; Radiated ptero; Orinoco sailfin catfish; Long-fin armored catfish)

Synonyms: Ancistrus multiradiatus; Hypostomus multiradiatus; Liposarcus multiradiatus
Language: Danish; Finnish; Mandarin Chinese; Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus is one of several tropical fish commonly known as plecostomus (or plecos). It belongs to the armored catfish family (Loricariidae). Named for its sail-like dorsal fin, the part of its scientific name multiradiatus means "many-rayed" and refers to the rays of the dorsal fin. P. multiradiatus is one of a number of species commonly referred to as the common pleco by aquarists. P. multiradiatus browses on substrate, mainly feeding on benthic algae and aquatic weeds, but will also take worms, insect larvae and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates as food.
View Wikipedia Record: Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus

Infraspecies

Ancistrus multiradiatus var. multiradiatus

Invasive Species

View ISSG Record: Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus

Attributes

Adult Length [1]  20 inches (50 cm)
Brood Dispersal [1]  In a nest
Brood Egg Substrate [1]  Speleophils (cavity generalist)
Brood Guarder [1]  Yes
Litter Size [1]  2,000
Maximum Longevity [1]  10 years
Diet [2]  Planktivore, Detritivore, Carnivore (Invertebrates)
Female Maturity [1]  1 year

Ecoregions

Name Countries Ecozone Biome Species Report Climate Land
Use
Florida Peninsula United States Nearctic Tropical and Subtropical Coastal Rivers    
Puerto Rico - Virgin Islands United Kingdom, United States Neotropic Tropical and Subtropical Coastal Rivers    

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve State Sustainable Development Reserve VI 3260792 Amazonas, Brazil  

Prey / Diet

Echinochloa polystachya (creeping rivergrass)[3]

Predators

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus (Redtail catfish)[4]
Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum (Tiger shovelnose catfish)[4]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Unilatus brittani[5]
Unilatus unilatus[5]

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Frimpong, E.A., and P. L. Angermeier. 2009. FishTraits: a database of ecological and life-history traits of freshwater fishes of the United States. Fisheries 34:487-495.
♦ 2Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 3Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 4Dietary segregation among large catfishes of the Apure and Arauca Rivers, Venezuela, A. BARBARINO DUQUE AND K. O. WINEMILLER, Journal of Fish Biology (2003) 63, 410–427
♦ 5Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0