Taxonomy & naming
Paracanthopoma ventuarensis was described in 2026 by Elisabeth Henschel, Jonathan N. Baskin and Nathan K. Lujan, in the same Zootaxa paper that described P. jiparanaensis from Brazil. It belongs to the family Trichomycteridae, subfamily Vandelliinae — the vampire catfishes or candirus. The genus Paracanthopoma, established by Léon Giltay in 1935, remained monotypic for more than 85 years before a burst of ten new species over the last four years, reflecting renewed taxonomic attention to the subfamily.
The holotype, AUM 54333, was collected from the Ventuari River at Isla de Canaripo, in the Orinoco River basin of Amazonas State, Venezuela, at an elevation of approximately 90 meters. Paratypes (AUM 53660, MBUCV 8373) come from the same general area. The description was based on photomicroscopy, cleared-and-stained specimens, and micro-CT imagery. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences) records Paracanthopoma ventuarensis Henschel, Baskin & Lujan, 2026 as the currently valid name.
The authors place P. ventuarensis, together with P. jiparanaensis, in a putative clade shared with P. daemon, P. parva, P. carrapata and P. truculenta, on the basis of a spine-like anterior process on the parietosupraoccipital bone and an unpaired sixth supratemporal lateral-line pore. Boundaries between Paracanthopoma and the closely related genus Paravandellia remain actively debated pending a dedicated phylogenetic study of Vandelliinae.
Morphology
As with its sister description, the full external and osteological account of Paracanthopoma ventuarensis was published behind a subscription paywall and was not accessible for this article; only the abstract and reference list could be consulted. No maximum size, fin-ray counts, or coloration details are reported here as a result.
Habitat
Paracanthopoma ventuarensis is known from the Ventuari and Boconó River drainages, tributaries within the upper Orinoco River basin in Amazonas State, Venezuela. The holotype locality lies at roughly 90 meters elevation. No water temperature, pH or hardness data were reported in the material available for this article.
Feeding
Vandelliinae, the subfamily to which Paracanthopoma belongs, is collectively known as the blood-feeding candirus, entering the gill chambers of larger fish to feed on blood — documented for other species in the genus such as P. parva. Whether P. ventuarensis specifically feeds this way has not been reported in the material available for this article; this is genus/subfamily-level context, not a confirmed observation for this species.
Mating
No courtship or reproductive behavior has been reported for Paracanthopoma ventuarensis; the description paper is a taxonomic and morphological study and does not address reproduction.
Breeding
Breeding biology is entirely undocumented for this species. It has never been kept or bred in captivity.
In the aquarium
Paracanthopoma ventuarensis is not part of the aquarium trade. As a member of the blood-feeding candiru subfamily Vandelliinae, wild Paracanthopoma are generally regarded as unsuitable and potentially hazardous aquarium subjects — genus-level context, not species-specific — and no husbandry information exists for this species.
Conservation
Paracanthopoma ventuarensis has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List and carries no formal conservation status. It is known only from the Ventuari and Boconó drainages in Amazonas State, Venezuela, and no information on population trend or threats has been published.