Spatuloricaria caquetae

Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Loricarioidei
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Loricariinae
Genus: Spatuloricaria
Species: Spatuloricaria caquetae, Fowler, 1943

This rather large Loricariid grows up to a size of over 30 - 35 cm. Even though S. caquetae shows a slim body proportion, it is built quite robust comparing it to other members of its family.

The overall ground coloration is dirt-brown to gray with contrasting dark-brown, cryptic markings, which serve as a good camouflage between bigger gravel, rocks and wood pieces. The underside of this fish is bright white to beige.

The surface of this species body is rather smoothish, only on the head, males show a spiky odontodes - growth. Spatuloricaria caquetae has a big  and strong suction - "mask", which helps sucking itself to the substrate and also with moving and carrying around stones and wood pieces. This species can be territorial against others of its kind, but is not intimidated by other big fish or shows aggression towards them. It is a day active fish which isn't scared easily and is good visible on open areas.

The ditribution of S. caquetae seems a bit confusing, since it has a wide spread over three different countries.

In Colombia it is found in the Rio Orteguasa which merges into the Rio Caquetá.
It is also said, that this species can be found in Ecuador and Peru. There it lives in the Rio Napo.

Its habitat shows clear to white water and is normally not warmer than 27 °C. The current is not too strong. This habitat shows a lot of sand- and gravel banks to the sides of the river, where this species is to be found.

Spatuloricaria caqueta is not really a picky eater. In nature his omnivourous diet consists mainly of invertebrates like insect larvae, worms and crustaceans. It is thought, that this species also eats different kinds of algea in nature.

In captivity this fish prefers carnivorous food in all kind of shapes and forms. Tabs, granules, flakes and frosted foods are all accepted by this greedy eater, which never seems to be full. Next to the "meaty" food, spirulina tabs are also really welcomed by them.

This fish needs a lot of space, since it grows really big and is really active. A tank of at least 2 meters is ideal for this species. In a Tank that size a pair or a trio can be kept without issues. S. caquetae hides seldom, nonetheless there should be options for them to hide, since they can be quite territorial against its kind. The night is mostly spend sucked upside down on a flat rock. Therefore a construction of long, flat stones, with gaps in between are the perfect spot for resting and breeding. They are not picky with the substrate, so everything from fine sand to big gravel can be used for the underground. S. caqueta enjoys a current with oxygen in the tank. A good filtration is necessary, since this species eats non stop.

Since this is a day active species they like a natural light in the tank. The temperature of the water should be around 25 - 27 °C.

Sexing Spatuloricaria caquetae is quite easy since they show a big sexual dimorphism.

Although they share the same size and coloration, males can be easy recognized by the wider head and the spiky odontodes on the side of the head and the hard-rays of the pectorals.
The females have no beard at all and have a much pointier head than males which is really good visible from top.

When Spatuloricaria caquetae males come into breeding season, they start to clean a spot for spawning. This is reportedly on a smooth stone surface. Once the breeding ground is clean, it tries to push a female to the spawning site.

It is reported that rather large eggs are attached to the stone surface, while the male fertilizes them. Only with the fitting water parameters, the eggs stay attached to the substrate. The male then watches over the eggs until there hatch larvae out of it.

Exact parameters and incubation times are not known to us, since this species is almost never bred in captivity.