Xyliphius
barbatus Alonzo de Arámburu &
Arámburu, 1962
Image
contributors to this species:
Robin Warne
(2) Julio Endler (3)
ScotCat
Sources:
Other
Sources:
Relevant
Information:
Habitat:
Xyliphius live buried in the sand and perhaps
gravel of swift flowing streams. Description:
The banjo catfish genus Xyliphius was established
by Eigenmann (1912) to include a single species, X.
magdalenae Eigenmann, from Río Magdalena
basin, Girardot, Colombia. That description was based
on a single specimen, 32.0 mm SL. Later, four species
were described in a short time frame: X.
lepturus and X.
melanopterus from western
headwaters of Río Bobonaza, upper Amazon basin
(Orcés, 1962), X.
barbatus (Alonso de Arámburu
& Arámburu, 1962), and X. lombarderoi
(Risso & Risso, 1964), from Río Paraná,
in Argentina. A sixth species, X. kryptos,
was described by Taphorn & Lilyestrom (1983),
from Río Aricuaisá, lago de Maracaibo
basin, Venezuela. Further collections, though small,
expanded the distribution of species of Xyliphius
beyond their type localities (Cala, 1977). Currently,
the six nominal species of Xyliphius are
known from northern South America in the Río
Magdalena system (X. magdalenae), lago de
Maracaibo (X. kryptos), and western headwaters
of the Amazonas basin and Río Orinoco (X.
lepturus and X. melanopterus), and from
southern South America in the Río de La Plata
system (X. barbatus and X. lombarderoi)
(Taphorn & Lilyestrom, 1983; Galvis et al., 1997;
Calviño & Castello, 2008). Another new
species, Xyliphius anachoretes (Figueiredo
Carlos A, Britto Marcelo R. 2010) making 7 species
in total is from the Tocantins-Araguaia River system.
In 2017 another species Xyliphius
sofiae was described
from the vicinity of Iquitos, Maynas, Loreto, Peru
to take the overal total to 8. Etymology:
The genus name Xyliphius:
derived from the Greek word, xylephion = a little
piece of wood (referring to the woodlike appearance
of the type species of the genus). The specific name
barbatus: bearded, referring to the 30 dendritic
papillae on lower lip.
Common
Name:
Little guitar
Synonyms:
None
Family:
Aspredinidae
Distribution:
South America:
Paraguay-Paraná River basin. Endemic in Argentina.
Type locality: Río Paraná
en Rosario, provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina.
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