Hypostomus ventromaculatus Boeseman, 1968
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 ventromaculatus, commonly known as the wara wara, is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the coastal drainages of the Guianas, ranging from the Oyapock to the Suriname River, in French Guiana, Suriname, and Brazil.
Hypostomus ventromaculatus is known to occur in the lower reaches of rivers near and in brackish water, being particularly abundant in estuaries. It is typically found in environments with dead tree trunks and flooded vegetation, although it is also known from the muddy bottoms of banks dominated by the plant Montrichardia arborescens, where it is known to coexist with Loricaria cataphracta and Pimelodus blochii. It is believed to be a facultative air-breather, using its stomach as an accessory breathing organ. It is known to feed primarily on algae, although it also consumes protozoa, rotifers, nematodes, and small arthropods. The species reaches 25 cm (9.8 inches) in standard length.
Wikipedia contributors, Hypostomus ventromaculatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:53:09.582787+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hypostomus ventromaculatus Boeseman, 1968
- Name authority
- Boeseman, 1968
- 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 ventromaculatus Boeseman, 1968
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 |
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.
- Boeseman, M. (1968). The genus Hypostomus Lacépède, 1803, and its Surinam representatives (Siluriformes, Loricariidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden), No. 99: 1–89, Pls. 1–18. 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:3NZBV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.