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]

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Stegophilinae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.