Pterosturisoma Isbruecker & Nijssen, 1978

Raphael Covain & Sonia Fisch-Muller, 2007, The genera of the Neotropical armored catfish subfamily Loricariinae (Siluriformes: Loricariidae): a practical key and synopsis., Zootaxa 1462, pp. 1-40 : 34

Pterosturisoma Isbruecker & Nijssen, 1978 .

Type species: Harttia microps Eigenmann & Allen, 1942 .

Lectotype: CAS 28543 , Peru, Iquitos .

Gender: neutral.

This monotypic genus is known only from the upper Amazon River basin. Pterosturisoma is a rheophilic species. Evers & Seidel (2005) described this species as an open brooder. Males do not possess hypertrophied odontodes neither on the sides of head, nor on pectoralfin spines. Nevertheless, Evers & Seidel (2005) distinguished both sexes by the width of a naked trapezoidal area framed by four bony plates in the genital region. This area appeared broader in females, and longer and narrower in males. Pterosturisoma appears morphologically very similar to Lamontichthys from which it differs primarily in the number of pectoral fin rays (i-6 in the former versus i-7 in the latter). These two genera share features with Sturisoma such as similar body depth at dorsal-fin origin, presence of filamentous extensions on caudal-fin spines, and complete abdominal plate cover extending to the lower lip margin. These features are never observed in Harttia , suggesting these two genera share a closer relationship with Sturisoma than with Harttia as hypothesized by Rapp Py-Daniel (1997).