Pseudostegophilus

Pseudostegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to rivers in tropical South America. The members of this genus are obligate parasites that feed on scales and mucus of other fish.

Pseudostegophilus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Trichomycteridae
Subfamily: Stegophilinae
Genus: Pseudostegophilus
Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889
Type species
Stegophilus nemurus
Günther, 1869

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[1]

  • Pseudostegophilus haemomyzon (Myers, 1942)
  • Pseudostegophilus nemurus (Günther, 1869)

P. haemomyzon originates from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela while P. nemurus is found in the Amazon basin in Brazil and Peru.[2] P. haemomyzon grows to about 5.7 centimetres (2.2 in) SL.[3] P. nemurus grows to about 15.0 cm (5.9 in) TL.[4] P. nemurus is said to become attached to the gills, anal region, and fins of dead, dying, or disabled fishes.[4]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Pseudostegophilus in FishBase. February 2012 version.
  2. Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2007). "Pseudostegophilus haemomyzon" in FishBase. July 2007 version.
  4. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2007). "Pseudostegophilus nemurus" in FishBase. July 2007 version.


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