Ancistrus ranunculus

{{Short description|Species of catfish}}

{{Speciesbox

| status = NT

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn|author=Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio)|author-link= Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation |year=2022 |title= Ancistrus ranunculus |page= e.T134660726A134660731 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T134660726A134660731.pt|access-date=1 March 2024|lang=pt}}

| taxon = Ancistrus ranunculus

| authority = Muller, Rapp Py-Daniel & Zuanon, 1994

}}

Ancistrus ranunculus is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the basins of the Xingu River, Trombetas River and the Tocantins River in Brazil. It inhabits areas with clear water and without strong currents, and it is known to inhabit narrow cracks in submerged rocks, small passages, and spaces below flat rocks. The species is large for a member of Ancistrus, reaching {{cvt|19.5|cm}} in total length.{{Fishbase |year=2021 |genus=Ancistrus |species=ranunculus}} It sometimes appears in the aquarium trade, where it is one of several species known as a medusa pleco, although it may be referred to by its L-number, L034.{{cite web | url = https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=190 | title = PlanetCatfish: Cat-eLog: Hypostominae: Acanthicus ranunculus | accessdate = 1 March 2024}}