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the amazon Basin is an unquestionable biodiversity hotspot, containing the highest freshwater biodiversity on earth and facing off a recent increase in anthropogenic threats. The current knowledge on the spatial distribution of the freshwater fish species is greatly deficient in this basin, preventing a comprehensive understanding of this hyper-diverse ecosystem as a whole. Filling this gap was the priority of a transnational collaborative project, i.e. the AmazonFish project -https://www.amazon-fish.com/. Relying on the outputs of this project, we provide the most complete fish species distribution records covering the whole Amazon drainage. The database, including 2,406 validated freshwater native fish species, 232,936 georeferenced records, results from an extensive survey of species distribution including 590 different sources (e.g. published articles, grey literature, online biodiversity databases and scientific collections from museums and universities worldwide) and field expeditions conducted during the project. This database, delivered at both georeferenced localities (21,500 localities) and sub-drainages grains (144 units), represents a highly valuable source of information for further studies on freshwater fish biodiversity, biogeography and conservation.Scientific Data | (2020) 7:96 | https://doi.collections from Peru 25,26 and by initiating sampling campaigns in detected gaps in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. All these spatial gaps in the database will also be prioritized in future updates through literature and web-based sources checking. Researchers holding fish distribution data from any of the current gaps or under-sampled areas (Fig. 2) and that wish to share these data are welcome to join the project. This information will be included with the complete source, after validation, in the next update of the database.

The subfamily Loricariinae belongs to the Neotropical mailed catfish family Loricariidae. Members of Loricariinae are recognized by their long and flattened caudal peduncle and absence of an adipose fin. Despite important studies conducted on this group, no comprehensive generic key is presently available. A Hill & Smith (1976) analysis and cluster analysis were performed on external morphological characters taken from specimens or borrowed from the literature. The two main groups recognized correspond to the tribes Harttiini and Loricariini. Within the Loricariini, four morphological groups were found: the Rineloricaria group, the Loricariichthys group, the Loricaria group, and the Pseudohemiodon group. Results of these analyses were used to construct a practical key to thirty genera, followed by a synopsis for each genus.

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