Taxonomy & naming
Curculionichthys tukana was described in 2017 by Roxo, Dias, Silva and Oliveira, with the Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) recording the authority as 'Roxo, F.F., A.C. Dias, G.S.C. Silva and C. Oliveira, 2017'. It is placed in the subfamily Hypoptopomatinae of the family Loricariidae — the group of small suckermouth armoured catfishes often called 'dwarf otos' in the trade.
The genus Curculionichthys was erected to accommodate small hypoptopomatine species distinguished in part by their elongated snouts. The valid name follows the Catalog of Fishes; FishBase's authority file independently confirms the four-author combination above, correcting an earlier transcription that listed a different second author.
Morphology
The species is very small, reaching a maximum recorded length of about 1 in SL. Like other members of Curculionichthys it has the elongated, somewhat beak-like snout that gives the genus its name (from Latin curculionem, an allusion to a long snout). Detailed published morphometrics and meristics beyond the original description are not summarised here, and fine colour-pattern and squamation details have not been compiled in the available sources. Sexual dimorphism for this species has no data published.
Habitat
Curculionichthys tukana is known from South America — Brazil, in the Rio Tocantins basin. The fish is a freshwater, demersal (bottom-associated) species of tropical waters. More specific information on stream type, substrate, flow regime, water chemistry or seasonal conditions at the collection sites is not available in the consulted sources.
Feeding
No diet has been published for Curculionichthys tukana. Members of the Hypoptopomatinae are generally aufwuchs grazers, rasping algae and biofilm from submerged surfaces with their suckermouths, but specific feeding data for this species is not available and is not asserted here.
Mating
No data published. Courtship and mating behaviour have not been documented for this species in the available sources.
Breeding
No data published. Reproductive mode, clutch size, spawning site and parental care are unrecorded for Curculionichthys tukana in the consulted sources.
In the aquarium
Curculionichthys tukana is not established in the aquarium hobby, and there are no documented husbandry records. Given its small size and Tocantins-basin, tropical freshwater origin, general dwarf-loricariid care would presumably apply, but no species-specific aquarium guidance can be offered without inventing detail.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List has Not Evaluated (NE) the conservation status of Curculionichthys tukana. As a recently described, narrow-range species of the Rio Tocantins basin, its status is unassessed; the Tocantins system is subject to hydroelectric development and other pressures, but no species-level conservation data is available.