Hemiloricaria formosa

In March 2024 I was able to purchase 3 beautiful Hemiloricaria from Pier Aquatics in Wigan during the CSG convention. They were labelled there as an ‘undescribed’ species from Colombia. However, we agree with many experts that these fish are quite clearly H. formosa.

The animals occur in the entire headwaters catchment area of the Orinoco (Venezuela and Colombia) as well as in the Brazilian headwaters catchment area of the Rio Negro. They can be identified quite clearly by the dark spot (with up to four horseshoe-shaped, bordering spots) just behind the eyes; in the very similar species H. fallax, these spots are much further back and only just in front of the dorsal fin.

Beim Kauf war ich mir sicher, beide Geschlechter zu haben. Dies kann ich aber erst nach der Quarantäne auch anhand des Verhaltens wirklich verifizieren. Im Bild ist vorne ein Männchen mit den typischen Irokesenschnitt-Borsten und dahinter das deutlich rundliche Weibchen zu erahnen.