Titicaca Orestias
| Titicaca orestias | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cyprinodontiformes |
| Family: | Cyprinodontidae |
| Genus: | Orestias |
| Species: | O. cuvieri |
| Binomial name | |
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Orestias cuvieri Valenciennes, 1846 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Orestias humboldi |
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Orestias humboldi
The Titicaca orestias (Orestias cuvieri), also known by its native name amanto, is a likely extinct freshwater killifish from Lake Titicaca in South America. It belongs in the pupfish genus Orestias, endemic to Altiplano lakes in the Andes. With a body length of 27 cm (11 in), it was the largest member in that genus. In the hope that an undiscovered population remains, it is listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN. Despite its common name, it is not the only Orestias from Lake Titicaca.
Its mouth was nearly turned upwards and therefore the flat head had a dished shape. The head took nearly a third of the whole body length. The upperside was greenish-yellow to umber. The lower jaw was black. Its scales were oddly light coloured at their centre. The scales of the young were blotched.
The Titicaca orestias became extinct due to competition by introduced trout like the lake trout, brown trout, or the rainbow trout as well as silversides (Atherinopsidae) from the 1930s to the 1950s. A survey in 1962 failed to find any Titicaca orestias.
Orestias cuvieri is a species of killfish that belongs in the genus Orestias. Other related species of Orestias live in the region, forming a species flock. This species is thought to be as old as five million years and to have lived in Lake Titicaca until it became extinct.
The Titicaca orestias was characterized by a unique pattern of pores on the head. Large thick scales lined the median dorsal ridge and thinner smaller scales surrounded the ridge. Between these two areas of skin were patches with no scales. Unlike most other species of Orestias, the scales of the adult Orestias cuvieri were granulated. The concave dish shape of its body and jaw further helped distinguish Orestias cuvieri from other species of Orestias. The anatomy of O. cuvieri closely resembled a species of trout which is now found in Lake Titicaca, a similarity which has led many researchers to hypothesize that competition between the two groups was the reason for the extinction of O. cuvieri.
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