A Systematic Study of the Big-eyed Armored Catfish Hypoptopoma

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

This is what Albert Günther discovered (note the large lateral eyes):

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And this is what he had in mind until then when thinking of Loricariidae:

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Compared with a typical catfish of the family Loricariidae, Günther noted that his specimen could be distinguished by these characters:

presence of a bony bridge between the pectoral fins,
flattened shape of the head,
large eyes on the sides of the head.

These features were used by Günther as the etymological basis for the name Hypoptopoma thoracatum

Etymology

Hypoptopoma thoracatum:
Greek:	hypos (low position, below)
	piptein (depressed)
	poma (cheek).
Greek:	thorax (breastplate)

Over the years researchers noticed that the three characters listed above were not exclusive to the species Hypoptopoma thoracatum,but were shared by other species that differed from Hypoptopoma thoracatumin multiple ways. However, the characters traditionally used to identify species of Hypoptopomaare the size and position of the eyes: They are so large that they can be seen in dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of the head (look at the interactive images of Hypoptopoma on this Web site).

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