''Xyliphius'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of banjo catfishes from

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 sout ...

. This genus appears to be widespread in the Magdalena, Orinoco,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

- Paraná River systems where they are most common in deeper waters. ''Xyliphius'' includes moderately sized aspredinids, ranging from 8.8–14.7

centimetre 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Electromagnetic spectrum, measured by the Metre and its deriveds scales. The Microwave are in-between 1 meter to 1 millimeter. A centimetre (international spelling) or centimeter (American spellin ...

s (3.5–5.8 in) SL. Species of this genus are distinguished from all other aspredinids by having highly reduced eyes, toothless

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has ...

e, a row of fleshy papillae projecting anteriorly off the lower lip, flattened unculi and unculiferous

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

s flattened. These species also have the openings of the anterior nares with papillae and no dark saddles on the body.

Species

There are currently seven described species in this genus: * '' Xyliphius anachoretes'' C. A. A. de Figueiredo & Britto, 2010 * '' Xyliphius barbatus'' Alonso de Arámburu & Arámburu, 1962 * '' Xyliphius kryptos'' Taphorn & Lilyestrom, 1983 * '' Xyliphius lepturus'' Orcés-V. ( es), 1962 * '' Xyliphius lombarderoi'' F. J. J. Risso & E. N. P. de Risso, 1964 * '' Xyliphius magdalenae'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1912 * '' Xyliphius melanopterus'' Orcés-V. ( es), 1962

References

Aspredinidae Catfish genera Freshwater fish genera Catfish of South America Freshwater fish of South America Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann {{catfish-stub