Otocinclus affinis

Family Loricariidae. Distribution Southeast Brazil. Description Shape: slender catfish with sucking mouth. Narrow-based but fairly high dorsal fin, no adipose fin. Twenty-three or twenty-four bony plates arranged in a row along each side of the body. Color: ground color a light greenish gray to muddy yellow; darker back; whitish or light yellow underside. Fins are colorless or slightly green. Size: up to 1 ^in (4cm). Sexual differences: mature females much bulkier. Environment Inhabit running water. Temperature: 68-73 °F (20-23 °C). pH and water hardness: unimportant. Furnishings: ample vegetation with plenty of weeds and opportunities for cover. Feeding Mainly vegetarian, but also small worms. Useful as a consumer of algae in community aquaria. Biology Behavior: remains under cover during the day, feeding at dusk and at night. Mostly stays attached vertically to slabs of rock or plants. Reproduction: breeds like Corydoras. The small eggs hatch after 2-3 days. The young must be fed with small Artemia nauplii, micro-worms or egg yolk powdered as fine as possible. Social life and compatibility: territorial but harmless. Quite at home in a mixed aquarium, if there is enough room.