The Pseudopimelodidae are a small family (about 40 species) of

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 known as the bumblebee catfishes or dwarf marbled catfishes. Some of these fish are popular aquarium fish.

Taxonomy

This family was formerly a subfamily of

Pimelodidae The Pimelodidae, commonly known as the long-whiskered catfishes, are a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). Taxonomy The family Pimelodidae has undergone much revision. Currently, it contains about 30 genera and about 90 recognized and know ...

. Pseudopimelodidae is a

monophyletic 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 co ...

group. Previously, the superfamily Pseudopimelodoidea was sister to superfamilies

Sisoroidea Sisoroidea is a superfamily of catfishes (order Siluriformes). It contains the four families Amblycipitidae, Akysidae, Sisoridae, and Erethistidae; many sources also include Aspredinidae. With Aspredinidae, this superfamily includes about 42 gene ...

Loricarioidea Loricarioidei is a suborder of catfishes ( order Siluriformes). It contains the six families Trichomycteridae, Nematogenyiidae, Callichthyidae, Scoloplacidae, Astroblepidae, and Loricariidae. Some schemes also include Amphiliidae. This sup ...

. However, some evidence has shown this family, along with Pimelodidae,

Heptapteridae The Heptapteridae, or three-barbeled catfishes, are a family of catfish that originate from the Americas. Most species are restricted to South America, but '' Imparfinis lineatus'', '' Nemuroglanis panamensis'' and ''Pimelodella chagresi'' are n ...

, and ''

Conorhynchos ''Conorhynchos conirostris'' is a monotypic genus of catfish (order Siluriformes). The spelling of the generic name has been confused; it is currently valid as ''Conorhynchos'' as described by Pieter Bleeker in 1858. This catfish has unknown rel ...

'', may form a monophyletic assemblage, which contradicts the hypothesis that the former family Pimelodidae that included these families is a

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

group.

Distribution

The Pseudopimelodidae are restricted to fresh water 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 ...

, from the

Atrato River The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the Ch ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

Description

These catfishes have wide mouths, small eyes, and short barbels. Their bold markings lead them to be commonly known as bumblebee catfishes or dwarf marbled catfishes. ''B. acanthochiroides'' grows to 80.0 cm (31 in) TL. However, most species are smaller; species of the genus ''

Microglanis ''Microglanis'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Pseudopimelodidae native to South America. This genus has the widest range (biology), distribution within its family, with species ranging from the Guianas to Venezuela; western ...

'' rarely exceed 70 mm(2.8 in) SL and are never over 80 mm (3.1 in) SL.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1506994 Fish of South America Catfish families Taxa named by Francisco Mago Leccia