Stegophilinae (Subfamily)

Overview

Stegophilinae is a subfamily of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Trichomycteridae.

It includes twelve genera, Acanthopoma, Apomatoceros, Haemomaster, Henonemus, Homodiaetus, Megalocentor, Ochmacanthus, Parastegophilus, Pareiodon, Pseudostegophilus, Schultzichthys, and Stegophilus.^1] A monophyletic group within Stegophilinae is supported by two characteristics of the lateral line, including Acanthopoma, Henonemus, Megalocentor, Pareiodon, Parastegophilus, and Pseudostegophilus. Acanthopoma and Henonemus have a sister group relationship.^[2]

The subfamily Stegophilinae is widely distributed in the main South American river basins, including the Amazon, Orinoco, S?o Francisco, Paran?-Paraguay and those of southern Brazil.^[3] Eight of the genera are distributed in Venezuela.^[2]

Stegophilines are sometimes considered candir?, and are considered parasites or semi-parasites, because of their peculiar habit of feeding on scales, mucus, or skin of other fishes.^[2]

-ITIS-0">^ ^a ^b "Stegophilinae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=638831. Retrieved July 12, 2007.

^ ^a ^b ^c DoNascimiento, Carlos; Provenzano, Francisco (2006). "The Genus Henonemus (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) with a Description of a New Species from Venezuela". Copeia 2006 (2): 198?205. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2006)6[198:TGHSTW]2.0.CO;2.

^ Koch, Walter Rudolf (30 September 2002). "Revis?o Taxon?mica do G?nero Homodiaetus (Teleostei, Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) (Portuguese)" (PDF). Iheringia, S?r. Zool., Porto Alegre 92 (3): 33?46. http://www.scielo.br/pdf/isz/v92n3/12975.pdf.

Taxonomy

The Subfamily Stegophilinae is a member of the Family Trichomycteridae. Here is the complete "parentage" of Stegophilinae:

Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
  - Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
    - Branch: Deuterostomia Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
      - Infrakingdom: Chordonia (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
        Phylum: Chordata Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
        Subphylum: Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
        Infraphylum: Gnathostomata auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
        Superclass: Osteichthyes Huxley, 1880 - Bony Fishes
        Class: Osteichthyes Huxley, 1880 - Bony Fishes
        Subclass: Actinopterygii - Ray-Finned Fishes
        Infraclass: Actinopteri
        Cohort: Clupeocephala
        Order: Siluriformes - Catfishes
        Family: Trichomycteridae - Pencil or parasitic catfishes
        Subfamily: Stegophilinae

The Subfamily Stegophilinae is further organized into finer groupings including:

Genera

Ochmacanthus

Pareiodon

Pareiodon microps is a species of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Trichomycteridae, and the only species of the genus Pareiodon. It is endemic to Brazil where it occurs in the Amazon Basin. [more]

Pseudostegophilus

Pseudostegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America. [more]

Stegophilus

References

^ ^a ^b "Stegophilinae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=638831. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c DoNascimiento, Carlos; Provenzano, Francisco (2006). "The Genus Henonemus (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae) with a Description of a New Species from Venezuela". Copeia 2006 (2): 198?205. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2006)6[198:TGHSTW]2.0.CO;2.
^ Koch, Walter Rudolf (30 September 2002). "Revis?o Taxon?mica do G?nero Homodiaetus (Teleostei, Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) (Portuguese)" (PDF). Iheringia, S?r. Zool., Porto Alegre 92 (3): 33?46. http://www.scielo.br/pdf/isz/v92n3/12975.pdf.

Stegophilinae