''Paramphilius'' 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 ...

loach catfish The loach catfishes are a family, Amphiliidae, of catfishes (order Siluriformes). They are widespread in tropical Africa, but are most common in streams at high elevations; most species are able to cling to rocks in fast-flowing streams. The 13 g ...

es found in Africa.

Description

''Paramphilius'' have a lengthened and cylindrical body with a short and high head and short and round fins. The small eyes are located far forward. The

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...

are long. The

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is truncated or round. All of the West African species are uniformly brown with a paler underside; ''P. firestonei'' also has irregularly distributed brown spots as well as a dark spot at the base of the caudal fin. ''Paramphilius'' species exhibit a peculiar form of

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

in that the males mature have a more inflated head. Unlike species of ''

Amphilius ''Amphilius'' is a genus of catfishes of the family Amphiliidae. ''Amphilius'' catfish have fairly lengthened bodies, with short, depressed, and broad heads. They have three pairs of fringed barbels. The eyes, small and located dorsally, are v ...

'', the length of the snout is less than half of the length of the head, the

adipose fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...

is confluent with the caudal fin, and the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has seven or more branched rays.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * '' Paramphilius baudoni'' ( Pellegrin, 1928) * '' Paramphilius firestonei'' L. P. Schultz, 1942 * '' Paramphilius teugelsi'' P. H. Skelton, 1989 * '' Paramphilius trichomycteroides'' Pellegrin, 1907

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7135388 Amphiliinae Fish of Africa Catfish genera Taxa named by Jacques Pellegrin Freshwater fish genera