Taxonomy & naming
Pseudocurimata boehlkei was described by the American ichthyologist Richard P. Vari in 1989, as part of his revision of the curimatid genus Pseudocurimata. It belongs to the family Curimatidae — the toothless, detritus-feeding minor characins — within the order Characiformes, a family that sits alongside the piranhas, pacus and silver dollars of Serrasalmidae in the same broader characin radiation but follows a very different, algae-and-detritus feeding strategy rather than a predatory or fruit-eating one.
The genus Pseudocurimata itself has had an unsettled taxonomic history, with species periodically shuffled between it and neighbouring curimatid genera as revisions have worked through the family; the Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences) is the standing authority for the currently valid combination, and this account follows Pseudocurimata boehlkei as described. The species epithet honours ichthyologist James E. Böhlke, a common dedication pattern in Vari's curimatid work of the period; no other synonyms or common combinations are documented in the sources consulted here.
Morphology
Like other curimatids, Pseudocurimata boehlkei is a small, laterally compressed, silvery fish with a short, blunt, toothless mouth adapted for grazing rather than biting — curimatids lack the jaw teeth of predatory characins entirely, relying instead on pharyngeal structures to process algae, detritus and organic sediment. FishBase records a maximum length of 4.5 in total length for males, which places the species firmly among the small end of the characin spectrum and a world away from the large-bodied pacus and dorados that share the wider group.
Beyond the confirmed maximum size, detailed morphological description — fin counts, precise body proportions, colouration in life — is not covered by the sources available for this account, and this article does not extrapolate those details from other Pseudocurimata species.
Habitat
Pseudocurimata boehlkei is endemic to western Ecuador, recorded from the Esmeraldas and Santiago river basins, both Pacific-slope drainages rather than part of the Amazon or Orinoco systems that dominate the rest of this family group. It is known locally in parts of its range by the vernacular name "Dica."
Detailed habitat parameters — substrate, flow regime, vegetation, water chemistry — are not documented in the sources available here, and this account does not assume a generic "Amazon blackwater" profile for a species that in fact lives entirely outside the Amazon basin. Given the family's typical ecology, it is reasonable to expect the species to graze algae and detritus from submerged surfaces in flowing Pacific-slope river habitat, but this is inference from the family rather than a confirmed observation for this species.
Feeding
No species-specific diet study is available for Pseudocurimata boehlkei in the sources consulted. Curimatids as a family are characteristically detritivore-grazers, feeding on algae, biofilm and organic sediment scraped or sucked from submerged surfaces using pharyngeal rather than jaw teeth — a very different feeding mode from the fin-nipping or predatory habits associated with piranhas and their larger relatives. It is reasonable to expect P. boehlkei follows this general family pattern, but no direct evidence for this species' actual diet was found, and no aquarium feeding data exists because the species is not established in the hobby.
Mating
No courtship or spawning behaviour has been documented for Pseudocurimata boehlkei in the sources available for this account. The species has not been kept or studied in aquaria, and no field reproductive-biology study was found. This section is left brief deliberately rather than filled with assumptions drawn from other, better-studied curimatids or characins.
Breeding
Breeding mode for Pseudocurimata boehlkei is not documented in the available sources, and it should not be assumed. The species is not part of the aquarium trade and has not been bred in captivity as far as the sources consulted indicate; no hormone-induced or farmed propagation record was found either, unlike the large migratory food-fish members of this broader group. Data is genuinely sparse here, and this account states that plainly rather than defaulting to an egg-scattering assumption without evidence.
In the aquarium
Pseudocurimata boehlkei is not a hobby aquarium fish. A dedicated search for aquarium care or trade information turned up nothing — no retailer listings, no keeper accounts, no care guides — consistent with a small, geographically restricted Ecuadorian endemic that has never entered the ornamental trade. Its modest confirmed maximum size of 4.5 in would in principle suit a modestly sized community aquarium for a grazing shoaler, but this is speculation based on its size class, not a real-world care record, and no tank parameters, tankmate compatibility or behavioural notes can be responsibly offered for this species.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assesses Pseudocurimata boehlkei as Data Deficient (assessment dated 2020), reflecting the lack of population, trend and threat information typical of small, range-restricted characins that have received little study since their original description. The species is endemic to the Esmeraldas and Santiago basins of western Ecuador, a Pacific-slope region under ongoing pressure from deforestation, agricultural runoff and water development, though no source consulted here quantifies a specific threat to this species. As with many single-region curimatids, the honest conservation story is an absence of data rather than a documented population trend in either direction.