Astroblepus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Otomorpha
Subcohors: Ostariophysi
Sectio: Otophysa
Ordo: Siluriformes
Family: Astroblepidae
Genus: Astroblepus
Species: A. acostai – A. ardiladuartei – A. ardilai – A. bellezaensis – A. boulengeri – A. brachycephalus – A. cacharas – A. caquetae – A. chapmani – A. chimborazoi – A. chotae – A. cirratus – A. curitiensis – A. cyclopus – A. eigenmanni – A. festae – A. fissidens – A. formosus – A. frenatus – A. grixalvii – A. guentheri – A. heterodon – A. homodon – A. itae – A. jurubidae – A. labialis – A. latidens – A. longiceps – A. longifilis – A. mancoi – A. mariae – A. marmoratus – A. mendezi – A. micrescens – A. mindoensis – A. mojicai – A. nettoferreirai – A. nicefori – A. onzagaensis – A. orientalis – A. ortegai – A. peruanus – A. phelpsi – A. pholeter – A. pirrensis – A. pradai – A. praeliorum – A. prenadillus – A. putumayoensis – A. quispei – A. regani – A. rengifoi – A. retropinnus – A. riberae – A. rosei – A. sabalo – A. santanderensis – A. simonsii – A. stuebeli – A. supramollis – A. taczanowskii – A. theresiae – A. trifasciatus – A. ubidiai – A. unifasciatus – A. vaillanti – A. vanceae – A. ventralis – A. verai – A. whymperi

Name

Astroblepus Humboldt, 1805

Type species: Astroblepus grixalvii Humboldt 1805

Synonyms

Arges Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840
Brontes Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840
Cyclopium Swainson, 1838
Strephon Gistel, 1848
Stygogenes Günther, 1864

References

Humboldt, F. H. A. von; 1805: Mémoire sur l'Eremophilus et Astroblepus, deux nouveaux genres de l'ordre des apodes. In: Voyage de Humboldt et Bonpland, Deuxième partie. Observations de Zoologie et d'Anatomie comparée. Paris. 1?: 33–38, Pls. 6-7.
Espinasa, L., Robinson, J., Soares, D., Hoese, G., Toulkeridis, T. & Toomey, R. III 2018. Troglomorphic features of Astroblepus pholeter, a cavefish from Ecuador, and possible introgressive hybridization. Subterranean Biology, 27: 17–29. DOI: 10.3897/subtbiol.27.27098 Open access Reference page.

Astroblepus is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family.[1] These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area.[1] Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems.[2] These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in).[1] The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft).[1] These fish have suckermouths like those of loricariids. They have two pairs of barbels, maxillary and nasal. The dorsal fin spine lacks a locking mechanism.[3] These fish also have odontodes, tiny teeth on their skin. All species exhibit a conical, pointy type on their fin rays like that found in other loricarioids; other species also exhibit a blunt type that is only found on their skin.[3]

Some of these fish are able to live in high altitude and climb the faces of waterfalls.[3] Their climbing ability comes from specially developed pelvic fins, as well as their suckermouths.[3] In their Neotropical Andean habitat, dry and wet seasons are quite extreme, and odontodes may help in sensing food, mates and water flow, as well as help cling to surfaces.[3] They feed upon invertebrates, such as caterpillars and annelids.[3]

The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of Loricariidae,[4][5] but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.[6][7]
Species

There are currently 80 recognized species in this genus:

Astroblepus acostai Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 [8]
Astroblepus ardiladuartei Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [9]
Astroblepus ardilai Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 [10]
Astroblepus bellezaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [9]
Astroblepus boulengeri (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus brachycephalus (Günther, 1859)
Astroblepus cacharas Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 [11]
Astroblepus cajamarcaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [12]
Astroblepus caquetae Fowler, 1943
Astroblepus chapmani (C. H. Eigenmann, 1912)
Astroblepus chimborazoi (Fowler, 1915)
Astroblepus chinchaoensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 [13]
Astroblepus chotae (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus cirratus (Regan, 1912)
Astroblepus curitiensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [14]
Astroblepus cyclopus (Humboldt, 1805)
Astroblepus eigenmanni (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus festae (Boulenger, 1898)
Astroblepus fissidens (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus floridablancaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2016 [15]
Astroblepus floridaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [12]
Astroblepus formosus Fowler, 1945
Astroblepus frenatus C. H. Eigenmann, 1918
Astroblepus grixalvii Humboldt, 1805
Astroblepus guentheri (Boulenger, 1887)
Astroblepus heterodon (Regan, 1908)
Astroblepus hidalgoi Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [12]
Astroblepus homodon (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus huallagaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [12]
Astroblepus itae Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 [8]
Astroblepus jimenezae Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [16]
Astroblepus jurubidae Fowler, 1944
Astroblepus labialis N. E. Pearson, 1937
Astroblepus latidens C. H. Eigenmann, 1918
Astroblepus longiceps N. E. Pearson, 1924
Astroblepus longifilis (Steindachner, 1882)
Astroblepus mancoi C. H. Eigenmann, 1928
Astroblepus mariae (Fowler, 1919)
Astroblepus marmoratus (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus martinezi Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 [16]
Astroblepus mendezi Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 [17]
Astroblepus micrescens C. H. Eigenmann, 1918
Astroblepus mindoensis (Regan, 1916)
Astroblepus mojicai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [9]
Astroblepus moyanensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 [13]
Astroblepus nettoferreirai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [9]
Astroblepus nicefori G. S. Myers, 1932
Astroblepus onzagaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [14]
Astroblepus orientalis (Boulenger, 1903)
Astroblepus ortegai Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 [18]
Astroblepus peruanus (Steindachner, 1876)
Astroblepus phelpsi L. P. Schultz, 1944
Astroblepus pholeter Collette, 1962
Astroblepus pirrensis (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913)
Astroblepus pradai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [14]
Astroblepus praeliorum W. R. Allen, 1942
Astroblepus prenadillus (Valenciennes, 1840)
Astroblepus putumayoensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [9]
Astroblepus quispei Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 [18]
Astroblepus regani (Pellegrin, 1909)
Astroblepus rengifoi Dahl, 1960
Astroblepus retropinnus (Regan, 1908)
Astroblepus riberae Cardona & Guerao, 1994
Astroblepus rosei C. H. Eigenmann, 1922
Astroblepus sabalo (Valenciennes, 1840)
Astroblepus santanderensis C. H. Eigenmann, 1918
Astroblepus simonsii (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus stuebeli (Wandolleck, 1916)
Astroblepus supramollis N. E. Pearson, 1937
Astroblepus taczanowskii (Boulenger, 1890)
Astroblepus tamboensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 [13]
Astroblepus theresiae (Steindachner, 1907)
Astroblepus trifasciatus (C. H. Eigenmann, 1912)
Astroblepus ubidiai (Pellegrin, 1931)
Astroblepus unifasciatus (C. H. Eigenmann, 1912)
Astroblepus vaillanti (Regan, 1904)
Astroblepus vanceae (C. H. Eigenmann, 1913)
Astroblepus ventralis (C. H. Eigenmann, 1912)
Astroblepus verai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 [14]
Astroblepus whymperi (Boulenger, 1890)

References

Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2016). Species of Astroblepus in FishBase. June 2016 version.
Romero, A. (2001). The biology of hypogean fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. Springer Netherlands. p. 376. ISBN 978-1-4020-0076-8.
Schaefer, S.A.; Buitrago-Suárez, U.A. (2002). "Odontode morphology and skin surface features of Andean astroblepid catfishes (Siluriformes, Astroblepidae)". Journal of Morphology. 254 (2): 139–148. doi:10.1002/jmor.10024. PMID 12353298. S2CID 27019672.
Diogo, Rui (2004-11-01). "Phylogeny, origin and biogeography of catfishes: support for a Pangean origin of 'modern teleosts' and reexamination of some Mesozoic Pangean connections between the Gondwanan and Laurasian supercontinents". Animal Biology. 54 (4): 331–351. doi:10.1163/1570756042729546. ISSN 1570-7563.
Sullivan, John P.; Lundberg, John G.; Hardman, Michael (2006). "A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 41 (3): 636–662. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.044. PMID 16876440.
Rivera-Rivera, Carlos J.; Montoya-Burgos, Juan I. (2017-10-25). "Trunk dental tissue evolved independently from underlying dermal bony plates but is associated with surface bones in living odontode-bearing catfish". Proc. R. Soc. B. 284 (1865): 20171831. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1831. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5666107. PMID 29046381.
Rivera-Rivera, Carlos J.; Montoya-Burgos, Juan I. (October 2018). "Back to the roots: Reducing evolutionary rate heterogeneity among sequences gives support for the early morphological hypothesis of the root of Siluriformes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 272–279. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.004. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29885935. S2CID 47014511.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2011): Astroblepus itae, Astroblepus acostai. Dos nuevas especies del Río Cáchira y Río Sinú, Colombia. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 16 pp.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2015): Five new species of astroblepid fish for Colombian Andes. Revista de la Asociación Colombiana de Ciencias Biológicas, 27 (1): 124-135.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2012): Astroblepus ardilai sp. nov. Una nuevas especie de pez del los Andes del Municipio de Floridablanca, Departamento de Norte de Santander – Colombia. Peces del Departamento de Santander – Colombia, 5: 1-21.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2011). "Astroblepus cacharas (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Astroblepidae), nueva especie del río Cáchira, cuenca del río Magdalena, Colombia". Dahlia. 11: 23–33.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013): Astroblepus hidalgoi – A. floridaensis – A. huallagaensis y A. cajamarcaensis: Cuatro nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 22pp.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014): Astroblepus tamboensis – A. chinchaoensis y A. moyanensis: Tres nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 22pp.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2015): Astroblepus verai sp. nov. – A. pradai, A. curitiensis y A. onzagaensis. Cuatro nuevas especies del Departamento de Santander – Colombia. Barranquilla, Departamento del Atlántico, 2015 (7): 1-24.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2016): Astroblepus floridablancaensis sp. nov. una nueva Especie de Janbonero (Siluriformes: Astroblepidae) del Municipio de Floridablanca, Departamento de Santander – Colombia. Peces del Departamento de Santander – Colombia, 8: 1-20.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013): Astroblepus martinezi y Astroblepus jimenezae: Dos nuevas especies del Río Sinú y Río Atrato, Colombia. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 20pp.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014): Astroblepus mendezi sp. nov. una nueva especie de pez de Panamá. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 17pp.
Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2012): Astroblepus ortegai y Astroblepus quispei. Dos nuevas especies des los Andes del Perú. Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 16 pp.