''Euchilichthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of upside-down catfishes native to the

Congo River Basin The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

Middle Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * ''

Euchilichthys astatodon ''Euchilichthys astatodon'' is a species of upside-down catfish native to Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), info ...

'' ( Pellegrin, 1928) * ''

Euchilichthys boulengeri ''Euchilichthys boulengeri'' is a species of upside-down catfish endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it is found in the Lulua River near Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital city of the K ...

'' Nichols & La Monte, 1934 * ''

Euchilichthys dybowskii ''Euchilichthys dybowskii'' is a species of upside-down catfish native to Cameroon, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it is found in the Dja and Ubangi Rivers and rivers of the eastern Congo Basin The Cong ...

'' ( Vaillant, 1892) * ''

Euchilichthys guentheri ''Euchilichthys'' is a genus of upside-down catfishes native to the Congo River Basin in Middle Africa. Species There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * '' Euchilichthys astatodon'' ( Pellegrin, 1928) * '' Euchilichthys bo ...

'' ( Schilthuis, 1891) * ''

Euchilichthys royauxi ''Euchilichthys royauxi'' is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Congo Basin of Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. This species grows to a length of TL. ''Euchilichthys royauxi'' was named by George Al ...

'' Boulenger, 1902

Description

''Euchilichthys'' species have the lips and part of the

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whiskerlike sensory organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and s ...

modified into a

suckermouth In fish, a suckermouth is a ventrally-oriented (inferior) mouth adapted for grazing on algae and small organisms that grow on submerged objects. All Loricariidae possess a suckermouth as do the cypriniform algae eaters of the genus '' Gyrinocheilu ...

References

Mochokidae Catfish of Africa Freshwater fish genera Catfish genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger {{mochokidae-stub