The Aspredinidae are a small family of (order Siluriformes) also known as the banjo catfishes,
Distribution
Aspredinids are found throughout the major tropical rivers of South America (e.g.,
Magdalena River,
Orinoco,
Amazon River, São Francisco,
Paraguay River-Paraná, and
Uruguay River).
is the only genus found in rivers west of the
Andes including the
Atrato River, San Juan, and Patía Rivers.
Taxonomy
Of the 13
genus in the family Aspredinidae,
a few genera have been described relatively recently, including
Acanthobunocephalus in 1995,
Micromyzon in 1996, and
Pseudobunocephalus in 2008.
These genera are categorized into three subfamilies.
The Aspredinidae are often recognized as a part of the primarily superfamily Sisoroidea as the cladistics to the family Erethistidae.
Description
The common name of the family "banjo catfishes" refers to their overall body shape, with a depressed head and slender
caudal peduncle, that in some species gives the appearance of a
banjo.
Banjo catfishes lack an
adipose fin. Most species lack the dorsal spine-locking mechanism.
Though their bodies are scaleless, their skin is completely
and is covered by large, unculiferous
arranged in longitudinal rows; the entire outer layer of skin may be shed.
Size ranges from less than
fish measurement in
Hoplomyzon papillatus to
Aspredo aspredo at about
fish measurement, though most are less than 15 cm.
Most species exhibit cryptic coloration.
Aspredinids have a loss of alarm cells and the fright reaction that is present in other
Ostariophysi.
Sexual dimorphism is exhibited in most species in that mature females are typically larger than males; this is, however, reversed in Hoplomyzon sexpapilostoma. Also, in Aspredo and Platystacus the dorsal fin spine is much longer in males than in females.
Ecology
Aspredinids live in a variety of habitats ranging from shallow backwaters to deep river channels to tidal estuaries. Some aspredinids appear to be semi
fossorial, during the day often resting slightly buried in leaf litter or other soft substrates.
Members of the subfamily Aspredininae inhabit coastal rivers and brackish water habitats such as mangrove swamps.
[Sands D.: South American Catfishes, Interpet 1988, ][Monks N. (editor): Brackish Water Fishes, TFH 2006, ]
In general, most species are cryptically pigmented, benthos, and rather sluggish unless disturbed.
A peculiarity of the catfishes in the subfamily Aspredininae is that after the female's eggs are fertilised by the male, she attaches them to her belly and carries them to shallow water to hatch.
Accounts of reproduction in Bunocephalus vary; some sources state that they are egg-scatterers without any parental care, while others note them to build a depression for a nest and guard the eggs.
In the aquarium
A few banjo catfishes are kept as aquarium fish, predominantly the smaller members of the subfamily Aspredininae. Their requirements are similar to those of other
tropical fish, preferring slightly acidic, not too hard water maintained at .
Since these species are nocturnal burrowers, they need an aquarium with a soft, sandy substrate into which they hide during the daytime and forage in at night. Sharp sand or coarse gravel will damage their whiskers. Although not schooling fish, they are tolerant of their own kind and also get along with other small aquarium species.
[Editore, Arnoldo. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Fishes. New York: Simon and Schuster 1976, ]
See also
-
List of fish families
-
List of freshwater aquarium fish species
