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Pterobunocephalus Fowler 1943

John P. Friel
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Containing group: Aspredinidae

Introduction

This genus is rare in museum collections but is widespread in the Orinoco, Amazon and Paraguay-Parana River systems. Based on my trawl collecting experiences they typically occur in waters >5 m in depth.

Characteristics

Diagnosis

A genus of small to medium sized banjo-catfishes (up to 90 mm SL) distinguished from all other aspredinids by the following characters: head and body extremely depressed; head ornamentation highly reduced or absent; often a distinct notch in upper jaw; laminar process of pterotic needle-like and directed at a shape right angle; 10-20 anal fin rays; and females carry embryos directly attached to the ventral surface of their bodies as shown below.

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Pterobunocephalus_with_attached_embryos

References

Delsman, H. C. 1941. Fishes of the Amazone River. Méroires du Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, deuxième series, fasc. 21: 77-81.

Fowler, H. W. 1943. Zoological results of the second Bolivian expedition for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1936-1937. Part II. Additional new fishes. Notulae Naturae, (120): 1-7.

Friel, J. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the Neotropical banjo catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) Ph.D. thesis, Duke University, Durham, NC, 256 pp.

Haseman, J. D. 1911. Descriptions of some new species of fishes and miscellaneous notes on others obtained during the expedition of the Carnegie Museum to central South America. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 7(3-4): 315-328.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Pterobunocephalus
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 1995 John P. Friel
About This Page

John P. Friel
Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, Ithaca, New York, USA

Page: Tree of Life Pterobunocephalus Fowler 1943. Authored by John P. Friel. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Friel, John P. 2000. Pterobunocephalus Fowler 1943. Version 14 April 2000 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Pterobunocephalus/15260/2000.04.14 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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