Auchenipterus

Auchenipterus is a genus of driftwood catfishes (order Siluriformes).[1][2]

Auchenipterus
Auchenipterus dentatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Auchenipteridae
Subfamily: Auchenipterinae
Genus: Auchenipterus
Valenciennes, 1840
Type species
Hypophthalmus nuchalis
Spix & Agassiz, 1829
Species

See text.

Synonyms
  • Euanemus
    Müller & Troschel, 1842
  • Auchenopterus
    Agassiz, 1846
  • Ceratocheilus
    Miranda Ribeiro, 1918
  • Osteomystax
    Whitley, 1940

Taxonomy

The genus is hypothesized to be monophyletic, diagnosed by the shared presence of grooves in the ventral surface of the head that accommodate adducted mental barbels. The presence of papillae on the dorsal and medial surface of the ossified maxillary barbel of mature males is also a possible synapomorphy, but in three species this cannot be confirmed as there are no adult male specimens yet discovered.[1]

This genus contains 11 species:

Distribution

The neotropical genus Auchenipterus is widely distributed in most of the river systems east of the Andean Cordilleras.[1] The species are found through the Orinoco River, Amazon River, and Rio de La Plata basins, and the coastal drainages of the Guianas; one species, A. menezesi, originates from the Rio Pindark-Mirim and Rio Parnaiba basins of northeastern Brazil.[1] In some regions they are abundant enough to be commercially important.[1]

Description

Auchenipterus species have a number of pronounced sexually dimorphic features of the head, maxillary barbels, and anal fin.[1]

References
  1. Ferraris, Carl J. Jr.; Vari, Richard P. (1999). "The South American catfish genus Auchenipterus Valenciennes, 1840 (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae): monophyly and relationships, with a revisionary study". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 126 (4): 387–450. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb00156.x.
  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.
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