Parotocinclus

Parotocinclus is a genus of fish in the family Loricariidae native to South America. This genus is distributed through almost all hydrographic systems in South America from the Guyana Shield drainages and Amazon Shield tributaries to the coastal drainages of eastern and southeastern Brazil, including the rio São Francisco basin.^[1] Most species have the caudal peduncle oval in cross section.^[2] It has been found that Characidium species may interact with P. maculicauda. The small Characidium will follow grazing P. maculicauda, which release particulate matter dislodged from the catfish's foraging.^[3]

Parotocinclus
Parotocinclus jumbo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Loricariidae
Tribe:	Otothyrini
Genus:	Parotocinclus C. H. Eigenmann & R. S. Eigenmann, 1889
Type species
Otocinclus maculicauda Steindachner, 1877

Taxonomy

By an analysis published in 2005, Parotocinclus was not a monophyletic genus. P. jumbo is not closely related to P. maculicauda, but is positioned, instead, as a basal lineage of the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae. Additionally, P. collinsae was not closely related to P. maculicauda and may be more closely related to the genus Hypoptopoma and four other genera. The P. collinsae cladistic group was transferred to Rhinotocinclus in 2022. P. jumbo may eventually be transferred also.^[4] P. bidentatus and P. muriaensis form a monophyletic pair of sister taxa that is more closely related to a subset of species of Parotocinclus (which includes P. maculicauda) than to any other genus of the tribe Otothyrini.^[4]

Species

There are currently 27 recognized species in this genus:

• Parotocinclus adamanteus Pereira, Santos, de Pinna & Reis, 2019 ^[5]
• Parotocinclus arandai Sarmento-Soares, Lehmann A. & Martins-Pinheiro, 2009
• Parotocinclus bahiensis (A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1918)
• Parotocinclus bidentatus Gauger & Buckup, 2005
• Parotocinclus cabessadecuia Ramos, Lima & Ramos, 2017 ^[6]
• Parotocinclus cearensis Garavello, 1977
• Parotocinclus cesarpintoi P. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1939
• Parotocinclus cristatus Garavello, 1977
• Parotocinclus doceanus (A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1918)
• Parotocinclus fluminense Roxo, Melo, Silva & Oliveira 2017
• Parotocinclus haroldoi Garavello, 1988
• Parotocinclus jacksoni Ramos, Lustosa-Costa, Barros-Neto & Barbosa, 2021^[7]
• Parotocinclus jacumirim D. E. da Silva Jr., T. P. A. Ramos & A. M. Zanata, 2020^[8]
• Parotocinclus jequi Lehmann A., Koech Braun, E. H. L. Pereira & R. E. dos Reis, 2013^[9]
• Parotocinclus jimi Garavello, 1977
• Parotocinclus jumbo Britski & Garavello, 2002
• Parotocinclus maculicauda (Steindachner, 1877)
• Parotocinclus minutus Garavello, 1977
• Parotocinclus muriaensis Gauger & Buckup, 2005
• Parotocinclus nandae Lehmann A., Camelier & Zanata, 2020^[10]
• Parotocinclus planicauda Garavello & Britski, 2003
• Parotocinclus prata A. C. Ribeiro, A. L. A. Melo & E. H. L. Pereira, 2002
• Parotocinclus pukuixe Silva-Junior & Zanata, 2022^[11]
• Parotocinclus robustus Lehmann A. & R. E. dos Reis, 2012^[12]
• Parotocinclus seridoensis T. P. A. Ramos, Barros-Neto, Britski & S. M. Q. Lima, 2013^[13]
• Parotocinclus spilosoma (Fowler, 1941)
• Parotocinclus spilurus (Fowler, 1941)^[14]