Astroblepus is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family.[1] These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area.[1]Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems.[2] These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in).[1] The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft).[1] These fish have suckermouths like those of loricariids. They have two pairs of barbels, maxillary and nasal. The dorsal fin spine lacks a locking mechanism.[3] These fish also have odontodes, tiny teeth on their skin. All species exhibit a conical, pointy type on their fin rays like that found in other loricarioids; other species also exhibit a blunt type that is only found on their skin.[3]
Some of these fish are able to live in high altitude and climb the faces of waterfalls.[3] Their climbing ability comes from specially developed pelvic fins, as well as their suckermouths.[3] In their Neotropical Andean habitat, dry and wet seasons are quite extreme, and odontodes may help in sensing food, mates and water flow, as well as help cling to surfaces.[3] They feed upon invertebrates, such as caterpillars and annelids.[3]
The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of Loricariidae,[4][5] but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.[6][7]
^ abcdFroese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2016). Species of Astroblepus in FishBase. June 2016 version.
^Romero, A. (2001). The biology of hypogean fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. Springer Netherlands. p. 376. ISBN 978-1-4020-0076-8.
^ abcdefSchaefer, S.A.; Buitrago-Suárez, U.A. (2002). "Odontode morphology and skin surface features of Andean astroblepid catfishes (Siluriformes, Astroblepidae)". Journal of Morphology. 254 (2): 139–148. doi:10.1002/jmor.10024. PMID 12353298. S2CID 27019672.
^Diogo, Rui (2004-11-01). "Phylogeny, origin and biogeography of catfishes: support for a Pangean origin of 'modern teleosts' and reexamination of some Mesozoic Pangean connections between the Gondwanan and Laurasian supercontinents". Animal Biology. 54 (4): 331–351. doi:10.1163/1570756042729546. ISSN 1570-7563.
^Sullivan, John P.; Lundberg, John G.; Hardman, Michael (2006). "A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 41 (3): 636–662. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.044. PMID 16876440.
^Rivera-Rivera, Carlos J.; Montoya-Burgos, Juan I. (2017-10-25). "Trunk dental tissue evolved independently from underlying dermal bony plates but is associated with surface bones in living odontode-bearing catfish". Proc. R. Soc. B. 284 (1865): 20171831. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1831. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5666107. PMID 29046381.
^Rivera-Rivera, Carlos J.; Montoya-Burgos, Juan I. (October 2018). "Back to the roots: Reducing evolutionary rate heterogeneity among sequences gives support for the early morphological hypothesis of the root of Siluriformes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 272–279. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.004. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29885935. S2CID 47014511.
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