''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 Jonathan Armbruster in 2004.
Currently, there are 18 recognized
species distributed in northern
South America, with the inclusion of the genera ''Lithoxancistrus'', the species formerly known as ''Hemiancistrus megacephalus'', as well as the recently described ''Pseudancistrus corantijniensis''.
There is no single morphological feature which distinguishes the group from related genera. Despite this, ''Pseudancistrus'' is generally recognized as a
monophyletic
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 gro ...
group.
Within the genus there is what is called the ''P. barbatus'' group. This group comprises Guyanese derived ''Pseudancistrus'' bearing hypertrophied odontodes along the snout and nonevertible cheek plates. It includes the five species ''P. barbatus'', ''P. corantijniensis'', ''P. depressus'', ''P. nigrescens'', and ''P. zawadzkii''.
Species
There are currently 18 recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Pseudancistrus asurini
''Pseudancistrus asurini'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Xingu River basin in the state of Pará in Brazil. The species reaches 19.6 cm (7.7 inches) SL. Its specific ep ...
''
G. S. C. Silva, Roxo & C. de Oliveira, 2015
* ''
Pseudancistrus barbatus
''Pseudancistrus barbatus'', commonly known as the bearded catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the basins of the Oyapock, the Mana River, the Maroni, the Suriname River ...
''
( Valenciennes, 1840) (Bearded catfish)
* ''
Pseudancistrus coquenani
''Pseudancistrus coquenani'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the basin of the Cuquenán River, which itself is part of the upper Caroní River drainage in Venezuela
V ...
''
(Steindachner
Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...
, 1915)
* ''
Pseudancistrus corantijniensis
''Pseudancistrus corantijniensis'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Courantyne River in Suriname. The species reaches 17.9 cm (7 inches) SL, and it is named for the Courant ...
''
de Chambrier & Montoya-Burgos, 2008
* ''
Pseudancistrus depressus
''Pseudancistrus depressus'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is a freshwater fish native to South America, where it is known only from Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ...
''
( Günther, 1868)
* ''
Pseudancistrus genisetiger
''Pseudancistrus genisetiger'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Jaguaribe River basin in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( ...
''
( Fowler, 1941)
* ''
Pseudancistrus guentheri
''Pseudancistrus guentheri'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it was initially collected from an unknown locality in Guyana, although it has subsequently been reported from the confluence o ...
''
(Regan
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri' ...
, 1904)
* ''
Pseudancistrus kayabi
''Pseudancistrus kayabi'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Teles Pires River, which is part of the Tapajós basin in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. The species reaches ...
''
G. S. C. Silva, Roxo & C. de Oliveira, 2015 [
* '']Pseudancistrus kwinti
''Pseudancistrus kwinti'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Coppename River in Suriname. The species reaches SL. ''P. kwinti'' was described in 2010 by Phil Willink of the ...
'' Willink, Mol & Chernoff Chernoff is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Herman Chernoff applied mathematician, statistician and physicist
** Chernoff bound, also called Chernoff's inequality
** Chernoff face
** Chernoff's distribution
* Maxine Chernoff ...
, 2010
* '' ‘Pseudancistrus’ megacephalus'' ( Günther, 1868)Nijssen Nijssen is a Dutch patronymic surname originating from the given name "Denijs" (DenisPeople with this surname include:
;
;Nijssen
* Han Nijssen (1935–2013), Dutch ichthyologist
* Sjir Nijssen (born 1938), Dutch computer scientist known for Nij ...
& Cala, 1988)
* '' Pseudancistrus papariae'' Fowler, 1941
* '' Pseudancistrus pectegenitor'' Lujan, Armbruster & Sabaj Pérez, 2007
Distribution and habitat
''Pseudancistrus'' species are found around the Guiana Shield in the Guyanas, Venezuela, and Brazil. They are also found in northeastern Brazil in the Rio Jaguaribe and Rio Grande do Norte. They are associated with swift flowing water over gravel, cobble, and boulders.
Description
There is a considerable variation in size within this genus, up to over 20 cm in standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...
, in the case of species such as ''P. pectegenitor''. Most species are not able to evert their cheek plates. In some species, odontodes on the snout may sometimes be extremely hypertrophied.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014258
Ancistrini
Fish of South America
Fish of Brazil
Fish of Venezuela
Catfish genera
Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker
Freshwater fish genera