Parastegophilus is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.
| Parastegophilus | |
|---|---|
Scientific 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
editThere 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- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Parastegophilus". FishBase. February 2012 version.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Parastegophilus maculatus". FishBase. July 2007 version.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Parastegophilus paulensis". FishBase. July 2007 version.