Taxonomy & naming
Described by Heok Hee Ng and Jeremy Wright in 2010. The type locality is the Raidak I River at Shipra, outside Buxa Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, India. It is a valid species in the Catalog of Fishes. The epithet is Latin and refers to wax, presumably for colour.
Morphology
Amblyceps are small, elongate, soft-bodied catfishes with a long adipose fin that merges toward the tail, and four pairs of barbels. FishBase gives a maximum of 4 in SL for A. cerinum.
Habitat
A fast, clear hill stream fish of the Brahmaputra system in northern West Bengal, India. The type locality is a shallow, swift-flowing stream with a bed of cobble and sand, and the fish were frequently found under cobble.
Feeding
Probably a small benthic invertebrate feeder, as in the genus. In the aquarium it would take small frozen foods. No species-specific diet study is known to the atlas.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not documented for Amblyceps cerinum in the sources available to the atlas. Sexes cannot be separated reliably from the information available.
Breeding
No spawning or breeding record is known to the atlas.
In the aquarium
Rarely seen in aquaria. Keep it as a cool-to-moderate, well-oxygenated hillstream fish with flow and rock cover, and avoid boisterous tankmates. Wild-caught fish are the only source.
Conservation
No IUCN Red List assessment of Amblyceps cerinum is known to the atlas. Hillstream fishes are sensitive to siltation, damming and altered flow, and no population data have been published.