''Dianema'' is a small
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 ...
of
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
catfish in the Callichthyinae subfamily of the
armored catfish Armoured catfish may refer to:
*Family Loricariidae: The armoured suckermouth catfish, also known as suckermouth catfish, armoured catfish or simply 'plecs' or 'plecos'
*Family Callichthyidae: armoured catfish, includes the genera
**''Corydoras'', ...
family. The
type species for this genus is ''Dianema longibarbis''. The name is derived from the
Greek ''di'', meaning "two", and ''nema'', meaning "filament".
The two species of ''Dianema'' share approximately the same distribution, and are found in the
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of t ...
and lower courses of its tributaries.
''Dianema'' species have the habit of swimming midwater, as opposed to the bottom as in most callichthyids.
Species
There are currently two described species in this genus:
[
*'' Dianema longibarbis'' Cope, 1872 (Porthole catfish)
*'' Dianema urostriatum'' ( A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1912) (Flagtail catfish)
]
References
Callichthyidae
*
Catfish genera
Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope
Freshwater fish genera
{{callichthyidae-stub