Spatuloricaria is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

es (order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Siluriformes) of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Loricariidae

Loricariidae

Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish , with almost 700 species and new species being described each year. Loricariids originate from fresh water habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are noted for the bony plates covering their bodies and...

. It includes eleven currently recognized species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

.

Spatuloricaria is in need of revision, as species boundaries and distributions are poorly known. The phylogenetic

Phylogenetics

In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...

 position of Spatuloricaria remains uncertain. Spatuloricaria has been placed at the base of a clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 including representatives of the Loricaria

Loricaria

Loricaria is a genus of catfishes of the family Loricariidae.-Taxonomy:Loricaria was the first genus of the family Loricariidae described. Thus, it is the nominal genus of the family Loricariidae. Phylogenetic relationships within Loricaria and among other members of Loricariini remain uncertain...

and Pseudohemiodon

Pseudohemiodon

Pseudohemiodon is a genus of catfishes of the family Loricariidae. It includes seven species, P. amazonus, P. apithanos, P. devincenzii, P. laminus, P. laticeps, P. platycephalus and P. thorectes....

groups. Its dentition, with few teeth on the premaxilla

Premaxilla

The incisive bone is the portion of the maxilla adjacent to the incisors. It is a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the jaws of many animals, usually bearing teeth, but not always. They are connected to the maxilla and the nasals....

e, and its abdominal cover consisting of minute disjointed platelets resembles that of some representatives of the Loricaria group. Conversely, the papillose

Papilla (fish mouth structure)

The papilla, in certain kinds of fish, particularly rays, sharks, and catfish, are small lumps of dermal tissue found in the mouth, where they are "distributed uniformly on the tongue, palate, and pharynx"...

 surface of the lips and sexually dimorphic features are more characteristic of the Rineloricaria

Rineloricaria

Rineloricaria is a genus of freshwater tropical catfish belonging to the Loricariidae family. They are commonly called whiptail catfish because of the long filament that grows out of the tip of the caudal fin that is characteristic of the genus...

group.

This genus is distributed in the northwestern part of the South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n subcontinent, in drainages of the Pacific and Atlantic Slopes of the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

. Several species occur also in the upper Amazon River

Amazon River

The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

 basin, upper Paraguay

Paraguay River

The Paraguay River is a major river in south central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina...

, and São Francisco River

São Francisco River

The São Francisco is a river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil...

 basins.

Sexual dimorphism includes hypertrophied development of claw-like odontode

Odontode

Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They comprise a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel, a structure similar to that of teeth. They generally do not have the same...

s along the sides of the head and on the pectoral spines in mature males. Ecological data is unavailable and reproductive biology is unknown for Spatuloricaria species.