A Systematic Study of the Big-eyed Armored Catfish Hypoptopoma

A Systematic Study of the Big-eyed Armored Catfish Hypoptopoma, by Dr. Adriana Aquino

In order to achieve our project objectives, let's first review what we learned last week by looking at the scientific classification of Hypoptopoma:

To start with, let's review the taxonomic position of Hypoptopoma,our study object, using Linnaean classification.

The genus belongs to the catfish family Loricariidae. Here's the full classification of Hypoptopoma.

Class	ACTINOPTERYGII
Subclass	NEOPTERYGII
Division	TELEOSTEI
Subdivision	EUTELEOSTEI
Superorder	OSTARIOPHYSI
Order	SILURIFORMES
Superfamily	LORICARIOIDEA
Family	LORICARIIDAE
Subfamily	HYPOPTOPOMATINAE
Tribe	HYPOPTOPOMATINI
Genus	HYPOPTOPOMA
Species	There are 13; my work includes all of these.

As an example, here are a few of the taxa from the list above and one character that defines each taxon.
Teleostei:	E.G. URONEURAL BONES (fused extension of dorsal part of vertebrae)
Euteleostei:	E.G. DORSAL ADIPOSE FIN (small, rayless, dorsal fin)
Ostariophysi:	E.G. WEBERIAN APPARATUS (series of bones that connect gas bladder with inner ear)
Siluriformes (catfishes):	E.G. 1-4 PAIRS OF BARBELS

page 2/14