Astroblepus
Astroblepus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Astroblepidae, the climbing catfishes or naked sucker-mouth catfishes. This genus is the only genus in its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems. These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in). The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft). 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. 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. Some of these fish are able to live in high altitude and climb the faces of waterfalls. Their climbing ability comes from specially developed pelvic fins, as well as their suckermouths. 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. They feed upon invertebrates, such as caterpillars and annelids. The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of Loricariidae, but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.
| Astroblepus | |
|---|---|
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| Astroblepus sabalo | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Suborder: | Loricarioidei |
| Family: | Astroblepidae Bleeker, 1862[2] |
| Genus: | Astroblepus Humboldt, 1805[1] |
| Type species | |
| Astroblepus grixalvii Humboldt, 1805[1]
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Astroblepus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Astroblepidae, the climbing catfishes or naked sucker-mouth catfishes. This genus is the only genus in its family.[1] These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area.[3] Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems.[4] These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in).[3] The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft).[3] 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.[5] 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.[5]
Some of these fish are able to live in high altitude and climb the faces of waterfalls.[5] Their climbing ability comes from specially developed pelvic fins, as well as their suckermouths.[5] 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.[5] They feed upon invertebrates, such as caterpillars and annelids.[5]
The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of Loricariidae,[6][7] but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.[8][9]
Species
[edit]Astroblepus contains the following valid species:[10]
- Astroblepus acostai Ardila Rodríguez, 2011[11]
- Astroblepus ardiladuartei Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[12]
- Astroblepus ardilai Ardila Rodríguez, 2012[13]
- Astroblepus bellezaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[12]
- Astroblepus boulengeri (Regan, 1904)
- Astroblepus brachycephalus (Günther, 1859)
- Astroblepus cacharas Ardila Rodríguez, 2011[14]
- Astroblepus cajamarcaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013[15]
- Astroblepus caquetae Fowler, 1943
- Astroblepus chapmani (C. H. Eigenmann, 1912)
- Astroblepus chimborazoi (Fowler, 1915)
- Astroblepus chinchaoensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2014[16]
- Astroblepus chotae (Regan, 1904)
- Astroblepus cirratus (Regan, 1912)
- Astroblepus curitiensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[17]
- Astroblepus cyclopus (Humboldt, 1805)
- Astroblepus dux Posada, 1909
- Astroblepus eigenmanni (Regan, 1904)
- Astroblepus festae (Boulenger, 1898)
- Astroblepus fissidens (Regan, 1904)
- Astroblepus floridablancaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2016[18]
- Astroblepus floridaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013[15]
- 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[15]
- Astroblepus homodon (Regan, 1904)
- Astroblepus huallagaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2013[15]
- Astroblepus itae Ardila Rodríguez, 2011[11]
- Astroblepus jimenezae Ardila Rodríguez, 2013[19]
- 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[19]
- Astroblepus mendezi Ardila Rodríguez, 2014[20]
- Astroblepus micrescens C. H. Eigenmann, 1918
- Astroblepus mindoensis (Regan, 1916)
- Astroblepus mojicai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[12]
- Astroblepus moyanensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2014[16]
- Astroblepus nettoferreirai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[12]
- Astroblepus nicefori G. S. Myers, 1932
- Astroblepus onzagaensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[17]
- Astroblepus orientalis (Boulenger, 1903)
- Astroblepus ortegai Ardila Rodríguez, 2012[21]
- Astroblepus peruanus (Steindachner, 1876)
- Astroblepus phelpsi L. P. Schultz, 1944
- Astroblepus pholeter Collette, 1962
- Astroblepus pirrensis (Meek & Hildebrand, 1913)
- Astroblepus pradai Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[17]
- Astroblepus praeliorum W. R. Allen, 1942
- Astroblepus prenadillus (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Astroblepus putumayoensis Ardila Rodríguez, 2015[12]
- Astroblepus quispei Ardila Rodríguez, 2012[21]
- Astroblepus regani (Pellegrin, 1909)
- Astroblepus rengifoi Dahl, 1960
- Astroblepus retropinnus (Regan, 1908)
- Astroblepus riberae Cardona & Guerao, 1994
- Astroblepus rivasae Ardila Rodríguez, 2018
- 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[16]
- 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[17]
- Astroblepus whymperi (Boulenger, 1890)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Astroblepidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
- ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
- ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Astroblepus". 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.
- ^ a b c d e f 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. Bibcode:2002JMorp.254..139S. 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. Bibcode:2006MolPE..41..636S. 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. Bibcode:2018MolPE.127..272R. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.004. hdl:1983/bf073a08-bffb-428e-ade1-e7c4e0436637. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29885935. S2CID 47014511.
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Astroblepus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2011). "Astroblepus itae, Astroblepus acostai. Dos nuevas especies del Río Cáchira y Río Sinú, Colombia". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b c d e 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. Archived from the original on 2016-11-21.
- ^ 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 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2011). "Astroblepus cacharas (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Astroblepidae), nueva especie del río Cáchira, cuenca del río Magdalena, Colombia". Dahlia. 11: 23–33.
- ^ a b c d Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013). "Astroblepus hidalgoi – A. floridaensis – A. huallagaensis y A. cajamarcaensis: Cuatro nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b c Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014). "Astroblepus tamboensis – A. chinchaoensis y A. moyanensis: Tres nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b c d 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 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ 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 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013). "Astroblepus martinezi y Astroblepus jimenezae: Dos nuevas especies del Río Sinú y Río Atrato, Colombia". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.
- ^ Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014). "Astroblepus mendezi sp. nov. una nueva especie de pez de Panamá". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.
- ^ a b Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2012). "Astroblepus ortegai y Astroblepus quispei. Dos nuevas especies des los Andes del Perú". Barranquilla, Colombia: Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla – via ResearchGate.