AquaticRepublic.com - Hypophthalmus fimbriatus (Pimelodidae) All Fishes

All Fishes Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Hypophthalmus fimbriatus** Kner, 1858
Common Name	Dolphin Catfish
Type Locality	Rio Negro, South America.
Pronunciation	hi pop thal muss
Etymology	(Greek)Hypo=Under + (Greek)opthalmos=eye.
Species Information
Identification	Hypophthalmus fimbriatus is quite distinct from its congeners because of its greatly elongate, flat and thick mental barbels. No other known catfish species has as large mental barbels, relative to body length. It also has a deeply forked caudal fin.
Sexing	Unknown.
General Remarks	It has been hypothesized that the large barbels are sensory organs that, when projected forward, allow the fish to 'feel' about olfactorily, and perhaps electrically, for Zooplankton concentrations. Once Zooplankton concentrations are found, they are sucked in and the larger cladocerans are sieved out by the gillrakers.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Santarém and the Negro River basin. Amazon, Lower Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there) Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Negro (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Not Evaluated
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Studies show H. fimbriatus is mostly zooplanktivorous, and that cladocerans (water fleas) are the principal zooplankton eaten. It is believed that H. fimbriatus is a filter feeder through the sieving action of its gillrakers. User data.
Breeding	Unreported in the aquarium.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe v. 26 (s. 373), pp 444 [74], Pl. 9 (fig. 30).
Registered Keepers	There is no registered keeper.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There is no wish to keep this species.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There is no record of this fish being seen.
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	Look up H. fimbriatus on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.15.196.2380
Last Update	2025 Jan 01 12:21 (species record created: 2001 Nov 05 00:00)