Taxonomy & naming
Andeancistrus eschwartzae was described by Lujan, Meza-Vargas and Barriga-Salazar in 2015, in a paper in Copeia (volume 103, number 3, pages 651–663) that established two new sister genera of the Chaetostoma group from opposite sides of the Andes in Ecuador. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) records the species under spid 73940 and the genus under genid 11403. The name is an original combination written without parentheses, indicating the species has never been moved from the genus in which it was first placed.
The species sits within the subfamily Hypostominae, in the Chaetostoma group of the tribe Ancistrini. Its only congener is Andeancistrus platycephalus, from which it is distinguished on coloration and the arrangement of odontodes (see Morphology).
Morphology
Andeancistrus eschwartzae reaches at least 5.5 in standard length. The body is elongate and bears the armour-plating typical of the family. The dorsal fin carries 8 soft rays and the anal fin 3 to 4 soft rays.
Coloration is the most readily cited diagnostic feature. The base colour of the head and body is black to dark grey, overlaid with irregularly shaped, round-to-vermiculate yellow-gold spots — each smaller than half the diameter of the naris — distributed evenly across the head, body and fin rays. This separates it from its congener A. platycephalus, which has a light-grey base colour and uniformly round white-to-blue spots. A further distinction is the absence in A. eschwartzae of the enlarged odontode clusters, or keels, found at the posteromedial apex of most lateral body plates in A. platycephalus.
Habitat
The species is known from the Amundalo River, within the Pastaza River drainage of Ecuador, on the Amazonian slope of the Andes. It is a freshwater, demersal fish of tropical waters. Beyond this drainage-level record, no detailed water-chemistry, depth or seasonal data has been published for the species.
Feeding
No published diet data exists for Andeancistrus eschwartzae. As a member of the Chaetostoma group of the Hypostominae, it would be expected to graze the aufwuchs and biofilm of submerged surfaces in the manner of related Andean-slope loricariids, but this has not been documented for the species itself.
Mating
No data has been published on courtship or mating behaviour in Andeancistrus eschwartzae.
Breeding
No breeding report exists for Andeancistrus eschwartzae. Reproductive mode, clutch size and parental care are all undocumented.
In the aquarium
Andeancistrus eschwartzae is not present in the aquarium trade, and no husbandry information has been published. The species is known only from scientific collections in the Pastaza drainage.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List has not evaluated Andeancistrus eschwartzae. As a recently described species with a restricted known range on the Andean slope of Amazonian Ecuador, its conservation status remains formally unassessed.