Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Loricariidae (Armored catfishes) > Hypostominae
Etymology: Hypostomus: Greek, hypo = under + Greek, stoma = mouth (Ref. 45335); kopeyaka: After its common name among the Tuyuka and Tukano indians, kope yaka, or kope ya’ka, meaning “pleco from the holes”, an allusion to the fact that, according to the Indians, the fishes spend most of their time hiding in holes in the river ban.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal. Tropical; 1°N - 0°N, 69°W - 70°W
South America: Brazil and probably Colombia. Hypostomus kopeyaka is known only from the rio Tiquié basin, a tributary of the rio Uaupés, upper rio Negro drainage, Brazil. According to Tuyuka fishermen, the species also occurs at the upper rio Tiquié into Departamento Vaupés in Colombia, but no specimens are available from the latter area (Ref. 83896).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 22.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 83896)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Distinguished from all congeners, except those belonging to the Hypostomus cochliodon group, by having few teeth (10 to 13) bearing a small lateral cusp and acutely angled dentaries. Diagnosed from the remaining members of the Hypostomus cochliodon group, except H. hemicochliodon, H. sculpodon, H. soniae Hollanda, Carvalho & Weber, and H. weberi, by possessing bicuspid teeth with mesial cusp rounded, considerably larger than outer cusp (vs. teeth generally unicuspid, outer cusp, if present, almost imperceptible, mesial cusp large and distinctly spoon-shaped). Hypostomus kopeyaka can be distinguished from H. hemicochliodon, H. sculpodon, H. soniae, and H. weberi by a distinctive color pattern composed of conspicuously horizontally elongated, closely-set black spots on the head and dorsal surfaces of the body (vs. spots absent in H. soniae, spots present but rounded in the remaining species, spots small in H. hemicochliodon and H. sculpodon, and large and widely-set in H. weberi). Additionally, it is differs from all the members of the Hypostomus cochliodon group, except H. weberi, H. ericae Hollanda Carvalho & Weber, H. hemicochliodon, H. paucipunctatus Hollanda Carvalho & Weber, H. sculpodon and H. waiampi Hollanda Carvalho & Weber, by possessing a buccal papilla (Ref. 83896).
Facultative air-breathing in the genus (Ref. 126274); Found in rapids, cataract pools, and slow-flowing portions of the rio Tiquié and some large tributaries (Ref. 83896).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Carvalho, P.H., F.C.T. Lima and C.H. Zawadzki, 2010. Two new species of the Hypostomus cochliodon group (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from the Rio Negro basin in Brazil. Neotrop. Ichthyol. 8(1):39-48. (Ref. 83896)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01622 (0.00733 - 0.03589), b=2.96 (2.79 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (18 of 100).
