Paramphilius

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Paramphilius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Amphiliidae
Subfamily: Amphiliinae
Genus: Paramphilius
Pellegrin, 1907
Type species
Paramphilius trichomycteroides
Pellegrin, 1907
Binomial name

Paramphilius firestonei
Schultz, 1942
Paramphilius goodi
Harry, 1953
Paramphilius teugelsi
Skelton, 1989
Paramphilius trichomycteroides
Pellegrin, 1907

Paramphilius is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Amphiliidae. It includes four species, P. firestonei, P. goodi, P. teugelsi, and P. trichomycteroides.[1]

[edit] Distribution

Paramphilius species are distributed in Africa. P. firestonei occurs in the St. Paul, Du, and Borlor Rivers in Liberia.[1] P. goodi is known only from the type locality of the Lokunje River basin in Cameroon.[2] P. teugelsi inhabits the Little Scarcies River basin in Guinea.[1] P. trichomycteroides originates from the Senegal River headwaters, near Ditinn and Mamou, Guinea.[1]

[edit] Description

Paramphilius have a lengthened and cylindrical body with a short and high head and short and round fins. The small eyes are located far forward. The barbels are long. The caudal fin is truncated or round. All of the West African species are uniformly brown with a paler underside; P. firestonei also has irregularly distributed brown spots as well as a dark spot at the base of the caudal fin. Paramphilius species exhibit a peculiar form of sexual dimorphism in that the males mature have a more inflated head.[3] Unlike species of Amphilius, the length of the snout is less than half of the length of the head, the adipose fin is confluent with the caudal fin, and the anal fin has seven or more branched rays.[3] Paramphilius species grow to about 5.1–7.5 centimetres (2.0–3.0 in) SL.[4][2][5][6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa 1418: 1–628. 
  2. ^ a b "Paramphilius goodi". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Aug 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Skelton, Paul H. (1992). "Amphiliidae (French)". Faune des poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres d'Afrique de l'Ouest Tome 2. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique and O.R.S.T.O.M., Paris, France, 902. 450-467. 
  4. ^ "Paramphilius firestonei". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Aug 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  5. ^ "Paramphilius teugelsi". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Aug 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  6. ^ "Paramphilius trichomycteroides". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Aug 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
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