The Amblycipitidae are a family of , commonly known as torrent catfishes. It includes three genus, Amblyceps, Liobagrus, and Xiurenbagrus,
Taxonomy
The family Amblycipitidae is a
monophyly group containing four monophyletic genera,
Amblyceps,
Liobagrus,
Nahangbagrus and
Xiurenbagrus.
It is the most basal
Sisoroidea family and is
cladistics to a
clade formed by the remaining families.
The genera
Amblyceps and
Liobagrus are a sister group pair that is, in turn, sister to
Xiurenbagrus.
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.
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.
Description
Fish of this family have
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 six pairs of barbels. The
lateral line is poorly developed or absent.
Both
Amblyceps and
Liobagrus species grow to about
fish measurement.
Liobagrus is more stoutly built than Amblyceps, the nostrils are close together in Amblyceps and distinctly apart in Liobagrus, and Amblyceps species have a cup-like flap above the that is absent in Liobagrus. Also, Amblyceps has double-folded lips and fin margins pigmented differently from the background colour, while Liobagrus has single-folded lips and fin margins paler than the background colour.
