Loricaria cataphracta Linnaeus, 1758

Open encyclopedia reference

Loricaria cataphracta, the chocolate loricariid or goatee whiptail catfish, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armored catfishes, and the subfamily Loricariinae, the mailed catfishes. This catfish is found in South America, where it occurs in the Amazon River basin, the Orinoco and coastal rivers in the Guianas, this species has been recorded in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, This species is a facultative air breather, the parents carry the eggs stuck to the ventral surfaces of their bodies. This fish reaches a maximum standard length of 29.5 cm (11.6 in). L. cataphracta is an omnivore that occurs in rivers.

Loricaria cataphracta is the type species of the genus Loricaria, it was first formally described by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae published in 1758 with its type locality given as the mouth of the Marowijne River in Suriname. As it was the only species Linnaeus described in Loricaria it is its type species by monotypy.

Wikipedia contributors, Loricaria cataphracta; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:04:42.579788+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Loricaria cataphracta Linnaeus, 1758

Name authority

Linnaeus, 1758

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Siluriformes

Family

Loricariidae

Genus

Loricaria

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderSiluriformes
11. familyLoricariidae Rafinesque, 1815
12. subfamilyLoricariinae Rafinesque, 1815
13. tribeLoricariini Rafinesque, 1815
14. genusLoricaria Linnaeus, 1758
15. speciesLoricaria cataphracta Linnaeus, 1758

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Loricaria. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 823 records assigned to Loricariidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542 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:3W76V. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.