Parancistrus

Parancistrus
Parancistrus aurantiacus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Loricariidae
Subfamily: Hypostominae
Genus: Parancistrus
Bleeker, 1862
Type species
Hypostomus aurantiacus
Castelnau, 1855
Synonyms

Acanthodemus Marschall, 1873

Parancistrus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armoured catfishes, and the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes. These catfish are found in South America.

Taxonomy

Parancistrus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1862 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker with Hypostomus aurantiacus designated as its type species, as well as being its only species. H. aurantiacus was formally described in 1855 by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau with its type locality given as the Ucayali River in Peru. Some authorities regard this genus as being within the tribe Ancistrini of the subfamily Hypostominae, but Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes does not recognise tribes within the subfamily Hypostominae.

Species

Parancistrus contains the following valid species:

Appearance and anatomy

Parancistrus is unique among loricariids due to the presence of fleshy folds on the naked area around the dorsal fin and at the pectoral fin points insertion in the breeding males. Breeding males also have elongated odontodes on their bodies and pectoral fin spines.

Parancistrus have stout bodies that are completely plated in adults. The dorsal fin membrane connects to the adipose fin spine. Their color is typically slate gray to black, occasionally with white streaks. They have large gill openings, which makes the genus different from all other loricariids except some Pogonopoma and Rhinelepis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Hypostominae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Parancistrus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Armbruster, J. W. and N. K. Lujan (2025). "New tribe-level classification of Hypostominae (Loricariidae) based on optimization of morphological states on DNA-based relationships, with descriptions of three new tribes and two new genera". Neotropical Ichthyology. 22 (4)): 1–32. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-2024-0108.
  4. 1 2 3 Armbruster, Jonathan W. "Parancistrus". Retrieved 2007-06-01.