Taxonomy & naming
Dasyloricaria paucisquama was described by Londoño-Burbano and Reis in 2016. The absence of parentheses around the authority signals that the species was erected directly in Dasyloricaria. It was named in the same work that revised the genus: Londoño-Burbano, A. & Reis, R.E. (2016), 'Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic relationships of Dasyloricaria Isbrücker & Nijssen, 1979 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae), with description of a new species', Neotropical Ichthyology 14(1):e150120. FishBase records it under SpecCode 68698, in the family Loricariidae, subfamily Loricariinae.
The species was diagnosed by an autapomorphy of the lateral ethmoid bone and by its reduced abdominal plating — four to six central abdominal plates per row, versus seven to twelve in its congeners — together with a pelvic fin that never reaches the anal-fin origin. The genus name combines the Greek dasys ('with hair', for the odontode covering) with the Latin lorica ('corslet').
Morphology
Dasyloricaria paucisquama reaches about 8 in standard length (SL), the largest of the three species in this batch. It shows the characteristic Loricariinae form: an elongate, flattened, fully armoured body drawn out into a long thin tail, with a ventral suckermouth. Reported fin counts are seven dorsal soft rays and six anal soft rays.
The species' diagnostic feature is its sparse abdominal plating — only four to six central plates per row, the trait the epithet 'paucisquama' (few scales) records — alongside an autapomorphy in the lateral ethmoid and a short pelvic fin that does not reach the anal-fin origin. Sexual dimorphism has not been described in sources accessible here.
Habitat
Dasyloricaria paucisquama is a South American species endemic to the upper and middle Río Magdalena basin in Colombia. It is a freshwater, demersal, tropical fish — a bottom-dweller of warm waters, consistent with the current-associated habits typical of Loricariinae.
Detailed water-chemistry and microhabitat data have not been published in sources available here. FishBase lists a modelled trophic level of about 2.4, but no measured field parameters (temperature, pH, conductivity) are recorded, so none are asserted.
Feeding
No direct feeding observations have been published for Dasyloricaria paucisquama. A modelled trophic level near 2.4 is consistent with the herbivorous-leaning grazing typical of small Loricariinae, which rasp aufwuchs — the biofilm of algae, microorganisms, and detritus on submerged surfaces — but this is an inference from the subfamily and the model rather than a species-specific record, so no diet is claimed.
Mating
No data has been published on courtship or mating behaviour in Dasyloricaria paucisquama.
Breeding
No breeding data has been published for Dasyloricaria paucisquama. As with related whiptail catfishes, paternal care of an adhesive egg mass would be expected, but no reproductive observations specific to this species exist in sources available here, so none are asserted.
In the aquarium
Dasyloricaria paucisquama has no documented presence in the aquarium hobby. It carries no L-number and does not appear in the ornamental trade in any recorded way, so there are no husbandry, parameter, or breeding accounts to report. Any keeping guidance would have to be extrapolated from general whiptail-catfish care — clean, well-oxygenated water with current and fine substrate — while recognising that nothing specific to this Magdalena endemic has been published.
Conservation
Dasyloricaria paucisquama has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List (Not Evaluated as of Red List version 2025-2). As a recently described endemic of the Magdalena basin — a system under pressure from pollution, damming, and habitat alteration — it may warrant future assessment, but the current absence of an evaluation reflects a lack of data rather than confirmed security. A formal appraisal would depend on better population and distribution information than is presently available.