Stegophilinae
| Stegophilinae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ochmacanthus reinhardtii | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Trichomycteridae |
| Subfamily: | Stegophilinae Günther, 1864[1] |
| Type genus | |
| Stegophilus[1] | |
| Genera[2] | |
|
see text | |
The Stegophilinae, the parasitic catfishes, is a subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Trichomycteridae, the pencil and parasitic catfishes. A monophyletic group within the 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.[4]
The Stegophilinae are widely distributed in the main South American river basins, including the Amazon, Orinoco, São Francisco, Paraná-Paraguay, and those of southern Brazil.[5] Eight of the genera are distributed in Venezuela.[4]
Stegophilines are sometimes considered candirú, so are considered parasites or semiparasites, because of their peculiar habit of feeding on scales, mucus, or skin of other fishes.[4]
Genera
Stegophilinae contains the following valid genera:[3]
- Acanthopoma Lütken, 1892
- Apomatoceros C. H. Eigenmann, 1922
- Haemomaster Myers, 1927
- Henonemus C. H. Eigenmann & Ward, 1907
- Homodiaetus C. H. Eigenmann & Ward, 1907
- Megalocentor de Pinna & Britski, 1991
- Ochmacanthus C. H. Eigenmann, 1912
- Pareiodon Kner, 1855
- Pseudostegophilus C. H. Eigenmann & R. S. Eigenmann, 1889
- Schultzichthys Dahl, 1960
- Stegophilus Reinhardt, 1859
References
- ^ a b Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ "Stegophilinae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
- ^ a b Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Stegophilinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
- ^ 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. S2CID 84355922.
- ^ Koch, Walter Rudolf (30 September 2002). "Revisão Taxonômica do Gênero Homodiaetus (Teleostei, Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) (Portuguese)" (PDF). Iheringia, Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre. 92 (3): 33–46. doi:10.1590/s0073-47212002000300004.