Ancistrini is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

es of 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 ...

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 ...

. Most are restricted to tropical and subtropical

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 ...

, but there are also several

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 ...

(''

Ancistrus ''Ancistrus'' is a genus of nocturnal freshwater fish in the family Loricariidae of order Siluriformes, native to freshwater habitats in South America and Panama. Fish of this genus are common in the aquarium trade where they are known as bushy ...

'', ''

Chaetostoma ''Chaetostoma'', also known as the bristlemouth catfish, is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes native to South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a ...

'', ''

Hemiancistrus ''Hemiancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes. These species are native to South America. The taxonomy of this genus is complex and unclear, and major work has to be done. Many of these fish are popular aquarium fish. Taxonomy ' ...

'' and ''

Lasiancistrus ''Lasiancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes. They are native to South America and Panama. Taxonomy ''Lasiancistrus'' was first described as a subgenus of ''Ancistrus'' in 1904, including ''A. heteracanthus'', ''A. pictus'', '' ...

'') in southern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Taxonomy

Ancistrini have previously been considered a loricariid

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

. However, the subfamily

Hypostominae The Hypostominae are a subfamily of catfishes of the family Loricariidae. Most members are restricted to tropical and subtropical South America, but there are also several species (in genera '' Ancistrus'', '' Chaetostoma'', '' Lasiancistrus'', ' ...

would be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

if Ancistrinae continued to be recognized. To continue recognizing the

monophyly In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent comm ...

of this group while returning it to Hypostominae, Hypostominae was broken into several tribes. Pterygoplichthyini is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to the tribe Ancistrini, which shares the derived presence of an evertible patch of plates on the cheek.

Description

Most Ancistrini species (except for some ''

Pseudancistrus ''Pseudancistrus'' is a genus of suckermouth armored catfishes native to South America. Taxonomy ''Pseudancistrus'' is a genus in the tribe Ancistrini of the subfamily Hypostominae. It was described by Pieter Bleeker in 1862, and redescribed by ...

'' and '' Spectracanthicus'') can be separated from all other loricariids except the Pterygoplichthyini by the presence of evertible cheek plates with hypertrophied

odontode Odontodes, or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They consist of a soft pulp surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralized substance such as enamel, a structure similar to t ...

References

Fish tribes Catfish of South America Freshwater fish of Central America Freshwater fish of South America {{Hypostominae-stub