Parastegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.

Parastegophilus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Trichomycteridae
Subfamily: Stegophilinae
Genus: Parastegophilus
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1946
Type species
Stegophilus maculatus
Steindachner, 1879

Species

edit

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

P. maculatus originates from the lower Paraná and Uruguay River basins in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, while P. paulensis is from the upper Paraná River basin in Brazil.[2] Parastegophilus species grow to about 5.4–6.0 centimetres (2.1–2.4 inches) in length.[3][4] P. maculatus enters the gill chamber of the catfish Luciopimelodus pati and feeds on the gills.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Parastegophilus". 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. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1.
  3. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Parastegophilus maculatus". FishBase. July 2007 version.
  4. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Parastegophilus paulensis". FishBase. July 2007 version.