Hypostomus commersoni Valenciennes, 1836
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Hypostomus commersoni, Commerson's pleco or the red-finned uruguay, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armored catfishes, and the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes. This catfish occurs in the Paraná River drainage, including the Iguazu River, the Paraguay River, the Río de la Plata, and the Dulce River. It spread into the upper Paraná following the inundation of the SeteQuedas Falls. It is typically found in rivers with muddy substrates and moderate currents. The water that H. commersoni inhabits usually has a temperature of 16.8 to 27.8 °C (62.2 to 82.0 °F), a pH of 7.2 to 9.2, a turbidity of 23.7 to 442 NTU, an oxygen concentration of 6.1 to 9.1 mg/L, and a conductivity of 1.087 to 2.654 μS/cm.
H. commersoni reaches 60.5 cm (23.8 in) in total length and can reportedly weigh at least 1.8 kg (4.0 lb). It appears in the aquarium trade, where it is often known as Commerson's pleco.
Wikipedia contributors, Hypostomus commersoni; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:52:29.596114+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hypostomus commersoni Valenciennes, 1836
- Name authority
- Valenciennes, 1836
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Loricariidae
- Genus
- Hypostomus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familyLoricariidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyHypostominae Kner, 1853
- tribeHypostomini Kner, 1853
- genusHypostomus Lacepède, 1803
- speciesHypostomus commersoni Valenciennes, 1836
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hypostomus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hypostomus alatus Castelnau, 1855 | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus albopunctatus (Regan, 1908) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus ancistroides (Ihering, 1911) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus annectens (Regan, 1904) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus arecuta Cardoso, Almirón, Casciotta, Aichino, Lizarralde & Montoya-Burgos, 2012 | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus aspilogaster (Cope, 1894) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus boulengeri (Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus brevicauda (Günther, 1864) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus crassicauda Boeseman, 1968 | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus derbyi (Haseman, 1911) | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus ericius Armbruster, 2003 | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hypostomus fonchii Weber & Montoya-Burgos, 2002 | LoricariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hypostomus commersonii Valenciennes, 1836 Valenciennes, 1836 | synonym |
| Plecostomus commersoni (Valenciennes, 1836) (Valenciennes, 1836) | synonym |
| Plecostomus commersonii (Valenciennes, 1836) (Valenciennes, 1836) | synonym |
| Hypostomus comersoni Valenciennes, 1836 Valenciennes, 1836 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Valenciennes, A. (1834). Poissons [plates]. In: A. d’Orbigny. Voyage Dans l’Amérique Méridionale. Pls. 1-16. [Text Published in 1847 [Ref. 5010]. Dates of Publication of the Plates Are given in Sherborn & Griffin 1934 [Ref. 28051]; Sherborn & Woodward 1901 [Ref. 13447] Do Not Provide a Date for The, Pls. 1–16. [Text published in 1847 [ref. 5010]. Dates of publication of the plates are given in Sherborn & Griffin 1934 [ref. 28051]; Sherborn & Woodward 1901 [ref. 13447] do not provide a date for the fish plates.]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3NZ72. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.