Helogenes
Helogenes | ||||||||||||
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Helogenes marmoratus |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
Helogeninae | ||||||||||||
Regan , 1911 | ||||||||||||
Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
Helogenes | ||||||||||||
Günther , 1863 |
Helogenes is the only genus ofthe Helogeneinae subfamily within the whale catfish (Cetopsidae). They are freshwater fish from tropical South America .
features
Helogenes are small, no more than seven centimeters long fish with an approximately cylindrical body and blunt head. A notch runs from the head to the dorsal fin , which sits roughly in the middle of the body and has five soft rays. Like the pectoral fins , it never has a hard ray. A small adipose fin may be present. The anal fin is long with 32 to 49 soft rays. The caudal fin is forked. Of the three pairs of barbels, the ones on the upper jaw fit into a notch under the little eye. The outer row of teeth in the lower jaw is enlarged and has large gaps.
Way of life
Helogenes are nocturnal hunters who mainly feed on insects. They colonize clear and black water rivers in tropical forests.
Systematics
Four species are assigned to the genus. (As of October 2015)
- Helogenes castaneus ( Dahl , 1960)
- Helogenes gouldingi Vari & Ortega , 1986
- Helogenes marmoratus Günther , 1863
- Helogenes uruyensis Fernández-Yépez , 1967
swell
- Tim M. Berra: Freshwater Fish Distribution . The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2007, ISBN 978-0-226-04442-2 , pp. 154-157 .
- Subfamily: Helogeninae on Fishbase.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helogenes on Fishbase.org (English)