Amblycipitidae

Torrent catfishes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Superfamily: Sisoroidea
Family: Amblycipitidae
F. Day, 1873
Genera

Amblyceps
Liobagrus
Nahangbagrus
Xiurenbagrus

Amblycipitidae is a family of catfishes, commonly known as torrent catfishes. It includes three genera, Amblyceps, Liobagrus, and Xiurenbagrus.[1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Amblycipitidae is a monophyletic group containing four monophyletic genera, Amblyceps, Liobagrus, Nahangbagrus and Xiurenbagrus.[2][3] Amblycipitidae is the most basal sisoroid family and is sister to a clade formed by the remaining families.[1] The genera Amblyceps and Liobagrus are sister group pair that is, in turn, sister to Xiurenbagrus.[2]

Distribution and habitat

These kinds of fishes can be found in swift freshwater streams in southern and eastern Asia, including Pakistan across northern India to Malaysia, China, Korea, and Japan.[1] Amblyceps are mainly distributed in India and the Malay Peninsula. Liobagrus fishes are distributed in the Yangtze River basin, Taiwan, Japan, and the Korea Peninsula. The species of the genus Xiurenbagrus are only distributed in the Pearl River basin.[4]

Description

Fish of this family have dorsal fins covered by skin. An adipose fin is also present, and is fused with the caudal fin in some species. The dorsal fin base is short and the dorsal fin spine is weak. The anal fin base is short. There are four pairs of barbels. The lateral line is poorly developed or absent.[1] Both Amblyceps and Liobagrus species grow to about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) SL.

Liobagrus is more stoutly built than Amblyceps, the nostrils are close together in Amblyceps and distinctly apart in Liobagrus, and Amblyceps species have a cuplike flap above the pectoral fins that is absent in Liobagrus. Also, Amblyceps have double-folded lips and fin margins pigmented differently from the background colour, while Liobagrus have single-folded lips and fin margins paler than the background colour.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7. 
  2. ^ a b c Chen, Xiaoping; Lundberg, John G. (1995). "Xiurenbagrus, a New Genus of Amblycipitid Catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes), and Phylogenetic Relationships among the Genera of Amblycipitidae". Copeia (Copeia, Vol. 1995, No. 4) 1995 (4): 780–800. doi:10.2307/1447027. JSTOR 1447027. 
  3. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Amblycipitidae" in FishBase. December 2011 version.
  4. ^ Zhao, Yahui; Lan, Jiahu; Zhang, Chunguang (2004). "A new species of amblycipitid catfish, Xiurenbagrus gigas (Teleostei: Siluriformes), from Guangxi, China". Ichthyological Research 51 (3): 228–232. doi:10.1007/s10228-004-0220-z.