Taxonomy & naming
Delturus carinotus was described by La Monte in 1933; the parentheses around the authority indicate the species was originally placed in a different genus. FishBase and the Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) treat Delturus carinotus as the valid name (CoF species id 5863, genus id 4391).
The genus Delturus is placed in the subfamily Delturinae, a small lineage within the suckermouth-armoured catfish family Loricariidae. Delturinae was recognised as a distinct subfamily for Delturus and its relatives, separating these Atlantic-drainage rheophiles from the larger Hypostominae and Loricariinae radiations. No L-number or hobby trade code is associated with the species.
Morphology
Delturus carinotus reaches about 9.5 in standard length. It has the bony dermal armour and ventral suckermouth shared across Loricariidae, in a build suited to clinging to hard substrate in fast water. The genus name (from Greek deltos, a small writing-board, and oura, tail) alludes to the form of the tail region.
Detailed published descriptions of coloration, fin counts, and any sexual dimorphism are not summarised here, and no dimorphism data was compiled for this profile.
Habitat
Delturus carinotus is endemic to the Rio Doce basin of eastern Brazil, an Atlantic coastal drainage. It is strongly rheophilic (current-loving): recently collected specimens were found in wide sectors of river channels with strong currents and rocky bottoms (FishBase, citing field collections). It is a freshwater, demersal, tropical fish.
This association with fast water over rock is the defining ecological trait of the species, though precise water-chemistry and depth figures are not published in the sources reviewed.
Feeding
No detailed diet study for Delturus carinotus is available — the dietary data is sparse. As a substrate-clinging loricariid of rocky, fast-flowing channels, it is most plausibly a grazer of aufwuchs (the algal and detrital biofilm coating rocks), but no published gut-content analysis is cited here and the specific diet is not documented.
Mating
No data on courtship or mate selection has been published for Delturus carinotus. No species-specific observations are available to report.
Breeding
No breeding records, clutch data, or aquarium spawning reports for Delturus carinotus were found in the sources reviewed. The reproductive mode of this species is not documented on present evidence.
In the aquarium
Delturus carinotus is not an established aquarium species and no husbandry account exists. As a strong-current rheophile it would demand a high-flow, well-oxygenated, rocky setup, but specific water parameters, tank-size, and compatibility guidance cannot be given without inventing them.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed Delturus carinotus as Least Concern (LC), with the assessment dated 7 November 2018. As a Least Concern species it is not currently considered at elevated risk of extinction. That said, the Rio Doce basin suffered a major mining-tailings dam disaster in 2015 (the Mariana/Fundão collapse) that severely affected the river; the relationship of the 2018 Least Concern assessment to that event is not detailed in the sources reviewed, and the species' current status within the basin should be regarded with that disturbance in mind.