Hoplosternum littorale
species of fish
Hoplosternum littorale is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Callichthyinae of the family Callichthyidae, the armoured catfishes. It is known as Tamatá in Brazil, atipa in French Guiana, hassa in Guyana, kwi kwi (or kwie kwie) in Suriname, cascadu or cascadura in Trinidad and Tobago, and busco or currito in Venezuela.
Description
H. littorale is armor-plated and dorso-ventrally compressed. The fish will grow in length up to 24.0 centimetres (9.4 in) TL.
Males grow to a larger average and maximum size than females and, during the reproductive season, develop fat deposits in the pectoral fin and an elongated recurved pectoral spine that often assumes a reddish colour. Males with recurved pectoral spines are not found outside of the reproductive period.
Distribution
H. littorale has the widest distribution of any callichthyid. It is present in all of South America east of the Andes and north of Buenos Aires, including the Orinoco, Trinidad, coastal rivers of the Guianas, Amazon River drainage, Paraguay, lower Paraná River, and coastal systems in southern Brazil. It ranges from Venezuela and Guyanas to Argentina.
One single lot is known from the upper Paraná River and the São Francisco River drainage; it has been suggested that these occurrences may represent introduced populations. This species has also been introduced into the Indian River Lagoon of Florida.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hoplosternum littorale” as species of fish. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of fish. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1027824.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hoplosternum littorale” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.