''Corymbophanes'' is a genus of

armored catfish Armoured catfish may refer to: *Family Loricariidae: The armoured suckermouth catfish, also known as suckermouth catfish, armoured catfish or simply 'plecs' or 'plecos' *Family Callichthyidae: armoured catfish, includes the genera **''Corydoras'', ...

native to South America where they are only known from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. ''Corymbophanes'' was originally placed in its own tribe Corymbophanini, but the first comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Hypostominae found ''Corymbophanes'' to be nested within the tribe Ancistrini.

Taxonomy

''Corymbophanes'' and its type species, ''C. andersoni'', were first described in 1909 by

Carl H. Eigenmann Carl Henry Eigenmann (March 9, 1863 – April 24, 1927) was a German-American ichthyologist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, and his zoology students is credited with identifyin ...

. In 2000, they were redescribed along with the description of a new species, ''C. kaiei''. In 2004, the tribe Corymbophanini was erected. ''Corymbophanes'' represents an old lineage as it lacks many of the characteristics of the rest of the subfamily Hypostominae. This group probably has a

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

position within the subfamily.

Species

There were previously two recognized species in this genus. A third species was described in a 2020 study. * ''

Corymbophanes ameliae ''Corymbophanes ameliae'' is a species of armored catfish native to South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern ...

'' Lujan, Armbruster, Werneke,

Teixeira Teixeira (, , ) is a Galician-Portuguese Teixeira is a surname of a Portuguese family with toponymic roots whose origin is in the landlord of Teixeira, municipality of Baião in Portugal, belonging to Don Hermígio Mendes de Teixeira, noble in ...

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

, 2020 * ''

Corymbophanes andersoni ''Corymbophanes andersoni'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Essequibo River basin, including the Potaro River and Kaieteur Falls Kaieteur is the world's largest single ...

'' C. H. Eigenmann, 1909 * ''

Corymbophanes kaiei ''Corymbophanes kaiei'' is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Potaro River basin in the Essequibo River drainage. It is usually found in fast-moving, sunlit riffles A riffle ...

'' Armbruster & Sabaj Pérez, 2000

Distribution and habitat

''Corymbophanes'' species originate from the upper

Potaro River The Potaro River is a river in Guyana that runs from Mount Ayanganna area of the Pakaraima Mountains for approximately before flowing into the Essequibo River, Guyana's largest river. The renowned Kaieteur Falls is on the Potaro. Features Nine ...

of the Essequibo River drainage system. ''C. andersoni'' is only known from the Chenapou Falls of this river. ''C. kaiei'' is only known from the Oung Creek, a small tributary of the Potaro River drainage. Neither of these species are found downstream of the

Kaieteur Falls Kaieteur is the world's largest single drop waterfall. Located on the Potaro River in the Kaieteur National Park, it sits in a section of the Amazon rainforest included in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Guyana. It is 226 metres (741 ft) hi ...

. ''Corymbophanes'' species live in swift riffles over gravel and cobble and among submerged logs.

Appearance and anatomy

Like other Loricariids, ''Corymbophanes'' species have plates of armor on their body and a suckermouth. Small odontodes are also present along their body. This genus can be distinguished from all other Loricariids by the presences of a dorsal ridge formed by plates between the dorsal fin and the caudal fin, the absence of the adipose fin, as well as the absence of the

omega iris The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are ...

that most loricariids possess. ''Corymbophanes'' species do not have evertible cheek plates and do not hypertrophied cheek odontodes which are present in many other loricariid species, which differentiates it from the few species that possess the aforementioned ridge. Species of this genus do not get very large; ''C. andersoni'' does not exceed 8.6 centimetres (3.4 in) and ''C. kaiei'' does not exceed . These fish are dark brown to black with white or cream-colored markings. ''C. kaiei'' has alternating light and dark bands on its caudal fin; also, this species has a dark-colored abdomen with light vermiculations in adults. By contrast, ''C. andersoni'' has no bands on the caudal fin, has no vermiculations, and the abdomen is light-colored.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3766095 Fish of South America Vertebrates of Guyana Hypostominae Catfish genera Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann Freshwater fish genera