Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; pH range: 7.0 - ? ; dH range: 10 - ?; depth range 1 - 40 m (Ref. 5217). Tropical; 23°C - 26°C (Ref. 2060)
Western Atlantic: Gulf of Paria to the Amazon River in Brazil.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 29.3 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 71685); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 0;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 11-12;
Anal
spines: 0;
Anal
soft rays: 11. Body except for snout, pectoral base and caudal peduncle covered with prickles; teeth fused into plates, two plates on each jaw; nostril with two openings; body dark green dorsally with six transverse black bars, white ventrally; fins dusky green or dark brown (Ref. 13608).
Solitary or in groups of 2 or 3 individuals but never in schools (Ref. 35237). Inhabits shallow inshore waters usually on soft bottoms. Frequently found in freshwater (Ref. 13608). When threatened, it becomes inflated like a balloon, in order to ward off predators. Carnivorous, feeding mainly on mollusks which crushes with its powerful teeth (Ref. 35237). Of negligible commercial importance and usually not marketed (Ref. 5217).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez, 1992. Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD. (Ref. 5217)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Aquarium: commercial
More information
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningSpawning aggregationFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsElectrophoresesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingNutrientsMass conversion
Tools
Warning: mysqli::__construct(): (HY000/1040): Too many connections in /var/www/html/includes/speciessummary.lib.php on line 2414
Can't connect to MySQL database fbquizv2. Errorcode: Too many connections