Ontogeny of the suspensorial and opercular musculature in the suckermouth armoured catfish Ancistrus cf. triradiatus (Loricariidae, Siluriformes)

Abstract

Several morphological features characterizing Loricariidae or suckermouth-armoured catfishes (Siluriformes, Teleostei) are related to their ability to attach onto substrates with their sucker mouth, and to scrape algae and other food items from these substrates. Suspensorial and opercular muscles are among those muscles usually involved in respiration (and feeding). In several loricariids including the genus Ancistrus, the opercular musculature is decoupled from the respiratory mechanisms. Results show that the adductor arcus palatini is relatively large throughout the whole ontogeny, while the levator arcus palatini is minute. It develops in association with the dilatator operculi, which exhibits substantial growth only in the juvenile and adult stages. The levator and adductor operculi are connected during early ontogeny, and anterior fibres of the latter muscle differentiate into the adductor hyomandibulae, a muscle previously thought to be absent in loricariids. Relative muscle sizes and orientations, as well as articular transformations and the transition from cartilaginous to bony skeletal elements, indicate ontogenetic transformations in the skeleto-muscular system, affecting and steering functionalities.