Genus · Plecos

Nannoptopoma

Nannoptopoma is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Plecos section, recorded from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and 2 more countries. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 1.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
1–1.5 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2
Recorded from
5 countries

About the genus

Nannoptopoma is a genus of tiny suckermouth armored catfish in family Loricariidae, part of the dwarf pleco subfamily Hypoptopomatinae that also includes Otocinclus. The two atlas species, N. spectabile and N. sternoptychum, are known from Andean and upper Amazonian drainages across Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela, and are diminutive even by the standards of dwarf plecos, at just 1–1.5 in. Like other hypoptopomatines, they graze algae and biofilm from rock and submerged wood using the family's characteristic ventral sucker-disc mouth, typically in fast-flowing, well-oxygenated streams.

Nannoptopoma has little to no established presence in the aquarium trade; the dwarf-pleco niche in the hobby is filled almost entirely by Otocinclus and a handful of other small hypoptopomatines, while genera this obscure circulate mainly among specialist catfish collectors when they appear at all. Both atlas species are assessed as Least Concern, so there is no current conservation concern on record for the genus.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 2

The 2 species

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

(Eigenmann, 1914)

1 in SL · LC

Schaefer, 1996

1.5 in SL · LC

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Nannoptopoma. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/nannoptopoma/

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