Candiru asu? Scavenger fish in the Amazon

pmac · Post by **pmac** » 02 Mar 2007, 18:17

Hi everyone
I recently saw a program on either the National geographic channel or one of the Discovery channels. Anyway, it was an expedition on the amazon, and they found these scavenger fish at crazy depths. They called it the Candiru asu(spelling is off). No it wasn't the small catfish that supposedly swims up your p-hole, but something esle. Some subspecies actually looked like mini sharks. Does anybody have any idea what these could be? I know my description was bad, but I had to start somewhere.
Thanks
Mike

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 02 Mar 2007, 18:58

I think you mean Cetopsis spp.
Check them out in the Cat-eLog under Cetopsidae.

bullhead · Post by **bullhead** » 02 Mar 2007, 19:15

There is a cetopsis candiru:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=702

pmac · Post by **pmac** » 08 Mar 2007, 01:36

Wow. You guys nailed it.
Thank you
Mike

Brooklamprey · Post by **Brooklamprey** » 18 Mar 2007, 18:39

Just a note on the Etymology of the common name "Candiru". It is the Portuguese equivalent of the Spanish Canero or carnaro. The name Candiru is thought to come from the native Tupi language and is a description of any various Trichomycterid or Cetopsid catfish. It may as well be "Minnow".

In the above use of Candiru acu' the Acu' is to note "Big candiru" and is commonly only applied to Cetopsis candiru and Cetopsis coecutiens.