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Hypancistrus phantasma Tan & Armbruster, 2016

Source-backed taxonomic record

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

Hypancistrus phantasma is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armoured catfishes, and the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes. This catfish occurs in the Vaupés River in the Rio Negro drainage in the Amazon basin in Brazil. This species reaches a standard length of 12.3 cm (4.8 in)>. Its specific epithet, phantasma, means "phantom" in Latin, referring to the species' notable elusiveness and its pale coloration. It was described in 2016 by Milton Tan and Jonathan W. Armbruster on the basis of coloration, alongside the related species Hypancistrus margaritatus. H. phantasma was described based on only a small number of specimens collected in 1924, and it has reportedly not been collected since, nor is it known in the aquarium trade, unlike H. margaritatus.

Wikipedia contributors, Hypancistrus phantasma; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:50:41.827573+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Hypancistrus phantasma Tan & Armbruster, 2016
Name authority
Tan & Armbruster, 2016
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Siluriformes
Family
Loricariidae
Genus
Hypancistrus
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. subfamilyHypostominae Kner, 1853
  13. tribePeckoltini Armbruster & Lujan, 2025
  14. genusHypancistrus Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1991
  15. speciesHypancistrus phantasma Tan & Armbruster, 2016

Close classified relatives

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

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Hypancistrus zebra Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1991LoricariidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hypancistrus inspector Armbruster, 2002LoricariidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hypancistrus lunaorum Armbruster, Lujan & Taphorn, 2007LoricariidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hypancistrus margaritatus Tan & Armbruster, 2016LoricariidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hypancistrus vandragti (Lujan & Armbruster, 2011)LoricariidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 823 records assigned to Loricariidae.

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. Tan, M., & Armbruster, J. W. (2016). Two new species of spotted Hypancistrus from the Rio Negro drainage (Loricariidae, Hypostominae). ZooKeys, 552: 123–135. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.552.5956 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:6MQMW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.