''Astroblepus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Astroblepidae ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andes, Andean area. ...

found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. ''Astroblepus pholeter'' and ''A. riberae'' are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems. These

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are typically small, less than . The largest species reaches . These fish have suckermouths like those of loricariids. They have two pairs of barbels, maxillary and nasal. The dorsal fin spine lacks a locking mechanism. These fish also have odontodes, tiny teeth on their skin. All species exhibit a conical, pointy type on their fin rays like that found in other loricarioids; other species also exhibit a blunt type that is only found on their

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

. Some of these fish are able to live in high

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

and climb the faces of waterfalls. Their climbing ability comes from specially developed

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s, as well as their suckermouths. In their Neotropical Andean habitat, dry and wet seasons are quite extreme, and odontodes may help in sensing food, mates and water flow, as well as help cling to surfaces. They feed upon invertebrates, such as

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s and

annelid The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

s. The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of

Loricariidae Loricariidae is the largest family (biology), family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with over 90 genus, genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South A ...

, but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.

Species

There are currently 80 recognized species in this genus: * '' Astroblepus acostai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2011): ''Astroblepus itae'', ''Astroblepus acostai''. Dos nuevas especies del Río Cáchira y Río Sinú, Colombia. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 16 pp.'' * '' Astroblepus ardiladuartei'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2015)
Five new species of astroblepid fish for Colombian Andes.
''Revista de la Asociación Colombiana de Ciencias Biológicas, 27 (1): 124–135.'' * ''

Astroblepus ardilai ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. ''Astroblepus pholeter'' ...

'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2012): ''Astroblepus ardilai'' sp. nov. Una nuevas especie de pez del los Andes del Municipio de Floridablanca, Departamento de Norte de Santander – Colombia. ''Peces del Departamento de Santander – Colombia, 5: 1–21.'' * ''

Astroblepus bellezaensis ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andes, Andean area. ...

'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus boulengeri'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus brachycephalus'' ( Günther, 1859) * '' Astroblepus cacharas'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 * '' Astroblepus cajamarcaensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013): ''Astroblepus hidalgoi'' – ''A. floridaensis'' – ''A. huallagaensis'' y ''A. cajamarcaensis'': Cuatro nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 22pp. * '' Astroblepus caquetae'' Fowler, 1943 * '' Astroblepus chapmani'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1912) * '' Astroblepus chimborazoi'' ( Fowler, 1915) * '' Astroblepus chinchaoensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014): ''Astroblepus tamboensis'' – ''A. chinchaoensis'' y ''A. moyanensis'': Tres nuevas especies de los Andes del Peru. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 22pp.'' * '' Astroblepus chotae'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus cirratus'' ( Regan, 1912) * '' Astroblepus curitiensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2015): ''Astroblepus verai'' sp. nov. – ''A. pradai'', ''A. curitiensis'' y ''A. onzagaensis''. Cuatro nuevas especies del Departamento de Santander – Colombia. ''Barranquilla, Departamento del Atlántico, 2015 (7): 1–24.'' * '' Astroblepus cyclopus'' ( Humboldt, 1805) * '' Astroblepus eigenmanni'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus festae'' ( Boulenger, 1898) * '' Astroblepus fissidens'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus floridablancaensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2016 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2016): ''Astroblepus floridablancaensis'' sp. nov. una nueva Especie de Janbonero (Siluriformes: Astroblepidae) del Municipio de Floridablanca, Departamento de Santander – Colombia. ''Peces del Departamento de Santander – Colombia, 8: 1–20.'' * '' Astroblepus floridaensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 * '' Astroblepus formosus'' Fowler, 1945 * '' Astroblepus frenatus'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1918 * '' Astroblepus grixalvii'' Humboldt, 1805 * '' Astroblepus guentheri'' ( Boulenger, 1887) * '' Astroblepus heterodon'' ( Regan, 1908) * '' Astroblepus hidalgoi'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 * '' Astroblepus homodon'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus huallagaensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 * '' Astroblepus itae'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2011 * '' Astroblepus jimenezae'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2013): ''Astroblepus martinezi'' y ''Astroblepus jimenezae'': Dos nuevas especies del Río Sinú y Río Atrato, Colombia. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 20pp.'' * '' Astroblepus jurubidae'' Fowler, 1944 * '' Astroblepus labialis'' N. E. Pearson, 1937 * '' Astroblepus latidens'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1918 * '' Astroblepus longiceps'' N. E. Pearson, 1924 * '' Astroblepus longifilis'' ( Steindachner, 1882) * '' Astroblepus mancoi'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1928 * '' Astroblepus mariae'' ( Fowler, 1919) * '' Astroblepus marmoratus'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus martinezi'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2013 * '' Astroblepus mendezi'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2014): ''Astroblepus mendezi'' sp. nov. una nueva especie de pez de Panamá. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 17pp.'' * '' Astroblepus micrescens'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1918 * '' Astroblepus mindoensis'' ( Regan, 1916) * '' Astroblepus mojicai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus moyanensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 * '' Astroblepus nettoferreirai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus nicefori'' G. S. Myers, 1932 * '' Astroblepus onzagaensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus orientalis'' ( Boulenger, 1903) * '' Astroblepus ortegai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 Ardila Rodríguez, C.A. (2012): ''Astroblepus ortegai'' y ''Astroblepus quispei''. Dos nuevas especies des los Andes del Perú. ''Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla. Barranquilla, Colombia. 16 pp.'' * '' Astroblepus peruanus'' ( Steindachner, 1876) * '' Astroblepus phelpsi'' L. P. Schultz, 1944 * '' Astroblepus pholeter'' Collette, 1962 * '' Astroblepus pirrensis'' ( Meek & Hildebrand, 1913) * '' Astroblepus pradai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus praeliorum'' W. R. Allen, 1942 * '' Astroblepus prenadillus'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, 1840) * '' Astroblepus putumayoensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus quispei'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2012 * '' Astroblepus regani'' ( Pellegrin, 1909) * '' Astroblepus rengifoi'' Dahl, 1960 * '' Astroblepus retropinnus'' ( Regan, 1908) * '' Astroblepus riberae'' Cardona & Guerao, 1994 * '' Astroblepus rosei'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1922 * '' Astroblepus sabalo'' (

, 1840) * '' Astroblepus santanderensis'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1918 * '' Astroblepus simonsii'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus stuebeli'' ( Wandolleck, 1916) * '' Astroblepus supramollis'' N. E. Pearson, 1937 * '' Astroblepus taczanowskii'' ( Boulenger, 1890) * '' Astroblepus tamboensis'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2014 * '' Astroblepus theresiae'' ( Steindachner, 1907) * '' Astroblepus trifasciatus'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1912) * '' Astroblepus ubidiai'' ( Pellegrin, 1931) * '' Astroblepus unifasciatus'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1912) * '' Astroblepus vaillanti'' ( Regan, 1904) * '' Astroblepus vanceae'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1913) * '' Astroblepus ventralis'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1912) * '' Astroblepus verai'' Ardila Rodríguez, 2015 * '' Astroblepus whymperi'' ( Boulenger, 1890)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q117337 Siluriformes Catfish genera Fish of the Andes Fish of South America Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt