Genus · Plecos

Epactionotus

Epactionotus is a genus with 4 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Plecos section, recorded from Brazil and Argentina. Adult sizes run from 1.5 in to 1.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
4
Adult sizes
1.5 in
IUCN assessed
4 of 4
Recorded from
2 countries

About the genus

Epactionotus is a genus of miniature armored catfish (family Loricariidae) in the dwarf-pleco subfamily Hypoptopomatinae, native to river drainages of southern Brazil and northern Argentina. The four atlas species are tiny even by loricariid standards, just 1.5 in as adults, with the flattened body, bony armor plating, and ventral sucker mouth typical of the family scaled down to fit life clinging to rocks and submerged wood in small streams.

Epactionotus gracilis, the slender cascudinho, is the one species in the genus with a recorded common name and reflects the group's local Portuguese nickname — cascudinho, meaning roughly 'little armored one' — used broadly for small hypoptopomatine plecos in Brazil. The genus has essentially no presence in the mainstream aquarium trade given its minute size and specialist habitat needs. Conservation data lean reassuring: three of the four atlas species are Least Concern, with the fourth not yet formally assessed.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 3 Not Evaluated · 1

The 4 species

Every Epactionotus recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Reis & Schaefer, 1998

1.5 in SL · LC

Reis & Schaefer, 1998

Slender Cascudinho, Araranguá Cascudinho

1.5 in SL · LC

Reis & Schaefer, 1998

1.5 in SL · LC

Almirón, Azpelicueta & Casciotta, 2004

NE

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Epactionotus. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/epactionotus/

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