Ancistrini is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

es of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Loricariidae The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...

. Most are restricted to tropical and subtropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, but there are also several

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

(''

Ancistrus ''Ancistrus'' is a genus of nocturnal freshwater fish in the family Loricariidae of order Siluriformes, native to freshwater habitats in South America and Panama. Fish of this genus are common in the aquarium trade where they are known as bushyn ...

'', '' Chaetostoma'', ''

Hemiancistrus ''Hemiancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes. These species are native to South America. The taxonomy of this genus is complex and unclear, and major work has to be done. Many of these fish are popular aquarium fish. Taxonomy ...

'' and ''

Lasiancistrus ''Lasiancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes. They are native to South America and Panama. Taxonomy ''Lasiancistrus'' was first described as a subgenus of ''Ancistrus'' in 1904, including ''A. heteracanthus'', ''A. pictus'', '' ...

'') in southern

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Taxonomy

Ancistrini have previously been considered a loricariid

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

. However, the subfamily

Hypostominae The Hypostominae are a subfamily of catfishes of the family Loricariidae. Most members are restricted to tropical and subtropical South America, but there are also several species (in genera ''Ancistrus'', '' Chaetostoma'', ''Lasiancistrus'', '' ...

would be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

if Ancistrinae continued to be recognized. To continue recognizing the

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic grou ...

of this group while returning it to Hypostominae, Hypostominae was broken into several tribes.

Pterygoplichthyini Pterygoplichthyini is a tribe of catfishes ( order Siluriformes) of the family Loricariidae. It includes two genera, ''Pterygoplichthys'' and the currently undescribed genus referred to as the ''Hemiancistrus annectens'' group, This group was ea ...

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the tribe Ancistrini, which shares the

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

presence of an evertible patch of plates on the cheek.

Description

Most Ancistrini species (except for some ''

Pseudancistrus ''Pseudancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes native to South America. Taxonomy ''Pseudancistrus'' is a genus in the tribe Ancistrini of the subfamily Hypostominae. It was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1862, and redescribed by ...

'' and ''

Spectracanthicus ''Spectracanthicus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfish endemic to the Tapajós, Xingu and Tocantins river basins in Brazil where often found in fast-flowing waters.Chamon, C.C. & Rapp Py-Daniel, L.H. (2014)Taxonomic revision of ''Spectr ...

'') can be separated from all other loricariids except the Pterygoplichthyini by the presence of evertible cheek plates with hypertrophied

odontode Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They consist of a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel, a structure similar to th ...

References

Fish tribes Catfish of South America Freshwater fish of Central America Freshwater fish of South America Hypostominae {{Loricariidae-stub