Taxonomy & naming
Ituglanis metae was described by Carl H. Eigenmann in 1917 in another genus, which the parentheses in the authority record. The Catalog of Fishes treats Ituglanis metae as valid. It belongs to the Trichomycteridae, the pencil and parasitic catfishes, though Ituglanis is a free-living genus of small, slender, often cave-dwelling or stream-bed species. Wet Spot has sold it under its scientific name.
Morphology
FishBase gives a maximum length of 3 in and does not state the length type, so it is not known whether this is SL or TL. Like its relatives it is elongate and scaleless, with a small head and short barbels.
Habitat
FishBase lists the species from Colombia, as a freshwater, benthopelagic, tropical fish. The type locality is Barrigona, Colombia. No temperature, pH or hardness figures are recorded.
Feeding
No diet is recorded for this species. Small trichomycterids of this type usually pick aquatic insect larvae and other small invertebrates from sand and gravel.
Mating
Courtship has not been described.
Breeding
No spawning or egg information is recorded, and aquarium breeding is not documented.
In the aquarium
A fish of this build needs a fine sand substrate it can burrow into, hiding places among roots and leaf litter, and well-oxygenated, clean water. It is a quiet bottom fish, so tankmates should be peaceful and not compete for small live and frozen foods. No water-chemistry targets are published for it.
Conservation
IUCN assessed Ituglanis metae as Least Concern on 7 October 2020. No specific threat is recorded.