Revised 22 Feb. 2024
PDF version (with illustrations and additional information)
Astroblepus Humboldt 1805 astro, from astḗr (Gr. ἀστήρ), star; blepus, from blépos (Gr. βλέπος), look, i.e., stargazer, referring to dorsally placed eyes of A. grixalvii
Astroblepus acostai Ardila Rodríguez 2011 in honor of Eduardo Acosta Bendek (1930–2014), physician and Director, Universidad Metropolitana de Barranquilla, where Ardila Rodríguez works, for cooperation with his research both in and outside of the institution
Astroblepus ardiladuartei Ardila Rodríguez 2015 in honor of Ardila Rodríguez’ son, Carlos Julio Ardila Duarte, also a biologist, who collected holotype
Astroblepus ardilai Ardila Rodríguez 2012 in honor of Ardila Rodríguez’ son, Carlos Julio Ardila Duarte, for his scientific illustrations of the fishes of Bolivar, Colombia
Astroblepus bellezaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Municipio La Belleza, Santander, Colombia, only known area of occurrence
Astroblepus boulengeri (Regan 1904) in honor of Belgian-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist George A. Boulenger (1858–1937), British Museum (Natural History), for his “ever-ready advice and help”; in addition, Boulenger reported this catfish as Stygogenes humboldtii (=Astroblepus cyclopus) in 1887
Astroblepus brachycephalus (Günther 1859) short-headed, from brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to shorter head (⅕ of TL) compared with A. sabalo (¼ of TL)
Astroblepus cacharas Ardila Rodríguez 2011 named for the Cácharas, an indigenous group of people who inhabited the upper reaches of the Río Cácharas, Norte de Santander, Colombia, type locality
Astroblepus cajamarcaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Departamento de Cajamarca, Andes of Peru, type locality
Astroblepus caquetae Fowler 1943 of Caquetá, Colombia, where type locality (Río Orteguasa) is situated
Astroblepus chapmani (Eigenmann 1912) patronym not identified; Eigenmann mentioned a “Dr. F. M. Chapman” in a later (1942) publication, who was a traveling companion in South America, perhaps ornithologist Frank M. Chapman (1864–1945), American Museum of Natural History
Astroblepus chimborazoi (Fowler 1915) of Chimborazo, Ecuador, type locality
Astroblepus chinchaoensis Ardila Rodríguez 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Distrito Chinchao, Peru, where type locality (Quebrada [brook] Saria, elevation 1100 m) is situated
Astroblepus chotae (Regan 1904) of the Chota Valley, Ecuador, type locality
Astroblepus cirratus (Regan 1912) Latin for curly or fringed, presumably referring to nasal flap “produced into a barbel which is as long as the diameter of the eye”
Astroblepus curitiensis Ardila Rodríguez 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Municipio de Curiti, “land of mists and beautiful sunsets” (translation), Departamento de Santander, Colombia, type locality
Astroblepus cyclopus (Humboldt 1805) latinization of Cyclops, mythological one-eyed giants that lived inside the volcano of Mt. Aetna (or Etna) of Sicily, alluding to local reports that the Andean volcanoes of Ecuador regularly eject a muddy substance mixed with fresh water and large numbers of this catfish, which presumably live in subterranean lakes beneath the volcano; Humboldt believed these claims but they have never been authenticated
Astroblepus dux Posado 1909 Latin for leader, allusion not explained, probably referring to “El Capitán,” its vernacular name in Medellín, Colombia, at the time
Astroblepus eigenmanni (Regan 1904) in honor of German-born American ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann (1863–1927), who loaned specimens to Regan; in addition, Eigenmann reported this catfish as Cyclopium cyclopum in 1888
Astroblepus festae (Boulenger 1898) in honor of Italian naturalist Enrico Festa (1868–1939), who collected holotype [although named after a man, “ae” is an acceptable way to form a genitive from a masculine noun that ends in “a”]
Astroblepus fissidens (Regan 1904) fissus (L.), cleaved or split; dens (L.), tooth, probably referring to premaxillary teeth, which are “acutely” bicuspid or “more or less Y-shaped”
Astroblepus floridablancaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: municipio de Floridablanca, Colombia, type locality
Astroblepus floridaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: río a la Florida (Quebrada Florida), Departamento del Amazonas, Andes of Peru, type locality
Astroblepus formosus Fowler 1945 Latin for beautiful or handsome, referring to its “pleasing contrasted coloration” (brown to black body, whitish belly and whiskers, pale to whitish fins)
Astroblepus frenatus Eigenmann 1918 Latin for bridled, referring to dark streak from eye to base of barbels
Astroblepus grixalvii Humboldt 1805 in memory of Don Mariano Grixalva, a “respectable scholar” who “disseminated at Popayan [Colombia, where this catfish occurs] a taste for the physical sciences, which he himself cultivated with success” (translation)
Astroblepus guentheri (Boulenger 1887) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of German-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830–1914), British Museum (Natural History), where holotype is housed
Astroblepus heterodon (Regan 1908) héteros (Gr. ἕτερος), different; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to unicuspid teeth on upper jaw and bicuspid teeth on lower
Astroblepus hidalgoi Ardila Rodríguez 2013 in honor of Peruvian ichthyologist Max Hidalgo, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos de Lima, for his contributions to the study of the freshwater fishes of Peru
Astroblepus homodon (Regan 1904) homós (Gr. ὁμός), same; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, probably referring to teeth of the outer series of the premaxillaries, which are all bicuspid, or “more or less Y-shaped”
Astroblepus huallagaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: río Huallaga, Departamento de Huánuco, Andes of Peru, type locality
Astroblepus itae Ardila Rodríguez 2011 in honor of ITA, Instituto Técnico Agrícola, Cáchira, Norte de Santander, Colombia, in existence for 55 years
Astroblepus jimenezae Ardila Rodríguez 2013 in honor of Luz Fernanda Jiménez Segura, director of the ichthyology lab at Universidad de Antioquia, for her contributions to the knowledge of Colombian fishes
Astroblepus jurubidae Fowler 1944 of the Río Jurubidá, Nuquí, Colombia, type locality
Astroblepus labialis Pearson 1937 Latin for of the lips, characterized by its very wide lips
Astroblepus latidens Eigenmann 1918 latus (L.), wide or broad; dens (L.), tooth, referring to wider teeth on outer row of premaxillary compared with the similar A. trifasciatus
Astroblepus longiceps Pearson 1924 longus (L.), long; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, presumably referring to its head, 3⅓-3⅔ times in length
Astroblepus longifilis (Steindachner 1882) longus (L.), long; filis (scientific Neo-Latin), thread-like or filiform thread, referring to its long pectoral- and caudal-fin rays
Astroblepus mancoi Eigenmann 1928 in honor of Inca governor and founder Ayar Manco, also known as Manco Cápac, “the Moses of the Peruvians, who led the exodus from Tampu-tocco to Cuzco about 1100 A.D.”
Astroblepus mariae (Fowler 1919) in honor of Hermano Apolinar Maria (1867–1949), missionary monk, ornithologist, and Director, Museum at the Instituto de La Salle, Bogotá, who collected holotype and offered Fowler the opportunity to study it [although named after a man, “ae” is an acceptable way to form a genitive from a masculine noun that ends in “a”]
Astroblepus marmoratus (Regan 1904) Latin for marbled, referring to its brownish coloration, “marbled with blackish”
Astroblepus martinezi Ardila Rodríguez 2013 in honor of Antonio José Martinez Negrete, Administrator, Parque Nacional Natural Paramillo (Cordoba, Colombia), for his conservation work and scientific research
Astroblepus mendezi Ardila Rodríguez 2014 in honor of Panamanian parasitologist Eustorgio Mendez Cedeño (1927–2016), who, for 40 years, maintained the zoological collection (which now bears his name) at the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies in Panama, the country where this catfish occurs
Astroblepus micrescens Eigenmann 1918 Latin for decreasing or becoming small, i.e., smallish, described as a smaller (up to 9 cm SL) subspecies of A. grixalvii (up to 30 cm SL)
Astroblepus mindoensis (Regan 1916) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mindo, western Ecuador, type locality
Astroblepus mojicai Ardila Rodríguez 2015 in honor of José Iván Mojica, Director, Museo de Ictiología del Instituto de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá), for contributions to the knowledge of Colombian ichthyology
Astroblepus moyanensis Ardila Rodríguez 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Quebrada (brook) Moyán, Departamento de Cajamarca, Peru, type locality
Astroblepus nettoferreirai Ardila Rodríguez 2015 in honor of Brazilian ichthyologist André Luiz Netto Ferreira (b. 1982), Universidad de São Paulo, for “great” (translation) contributions to the ichthyology of South America
Astroblepus nicefori Myers 1932 in honor of Brother Nicéforo Maria (1888–1980), monastic name of Antoine Rouhaire (a Frenchman), Museo del Instituto de La Salle (Bogota), who sent a collection of Colombian freshwater fishes to Myers, including holotype of this one [Myers’ spelling of the name without the second “o” is apparently not a mistake since herpetologists have also used that spelling for three reptiles named after Nicéforo; however, two other fishes that honor Nicéforo use the alternate spelling: Leporinus niceforoi and Hypostomus niceforoi]
Astroblepus onzagaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Municipio de Onzaga, Departamento de Santander, Colombia, type locality
Astroblepus orientalis (Boulenger 1903) Latin for eastern, the first species of the family recorded east of the Andes (Venezuela)
Astroblepus ortegai Ardila Rodríguez 2012 in honor of Hernán Ortega, curator, Colección Ictiológica de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (MUSM) de Lima, for his contributions to the knowledge of Peruvian fishes
Astroblepus peruanus (Steindachner 1876) –anus (L.), belonging to: Peru, where type locality (Amable Maria) is situated
Astroblepus phelpsi Schultz 1944 in honor of businessman and ornithologist William H. Phelps, of Caracas, a “well-known leader in furthering the development of the biological sciences in Venezuela,” presumably Phelps, Jr. (1902–1988), honored by Schultz in the same publication in the name of Spatuloricaria phelpsi (Loricariidae: Loricariinae), but patronym could also honor his father, Phelps, Sr. (1875–1965), also an ornithologist-businessman in Venezuela
Astroblepus pholeter Collette 1962 phōlētḗr (Gr. φωλητήρ), “one who lurks in holes,” referring to its cavernicolous habits
Astroblepus pirrensis (Meek & Hildebrand 1913) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: location not specified, perhaps referring to Pirre River and/or Mount Pirre, both near type locality
Astroblepus pradai Ardila Rodríguez 2015 in honor of Saul Prada Pedreros, president of the Colombian Association of Ichthyologists (ACICTIOS), which has “contributed greatly” (translation) to the knowledge of Colombian ichthyology
Astroblepus praeliorum Allen 1942 –orum (L.), commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of Hermanos Praeli, “merchants of Tarma and La Merced [Peru], who were instrumental in procuring facilities and who aided the collecting in person”
Astroblepus prenadillus (Valenciennes 1840) from preñadilla, local name for astroblepid catfishes in the Andes of Ecuador
Astroblepus putumayoensis Ardila Rodríguez 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Departamento del Putumayo, Colombia, where type locality (Río Mocoa, Municipio de Mocoa) is situated
Astroblepus quispei Ardila Rodríguez 2012 in honor of Roberto Quispe, Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, for contributions to the study of the Andean catfishes of Peru
Astroblepus regani (Pellegrin 1909) in honor of English ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan (1878–1943), Natural History Museum (London), for his “important” (translation) 1904 monograph on loricariid catfishes
Astroblepus rengifoi Dahl 1960 in honor of Colombian medical entomologist and parasitologist Santiago Rengifo Salcedo (1913–1965), for his “ceaseles [sic] work for the advancement of biological science in Colombia”
Astroblepus retropinnus (Regan 1908) retro- (L.), back; pinnus (L.), fin, referring to more posteriorly placed dorsal fin compared to the related A. boulengeri and A. homodon
Astroblepus riberae Cardona & Guerao 1994 in honor of Carles Ribera, University of Barcelona, a specialist in cavernicolous spiders, who collected holotype from Ninabamba caves in Peru [although named after a man, “ae” is an acceptable way to form a genitive from a masculine noun that ends in “a”]
Astroblepus rivasae Ardila Rodríguez 2018 in honor of Colombian biologist Sofia Rivas Lara, Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó “Diego Luis Cordoba,” who has “contributed greatly” (translation) to the knowledge of the fishes of Chocó, Colombia (where this catfish occurs)
Astroblepus rosei Eigenmann 1922 in honor of botanist Joseph Nelson Rose (1862–1928), United States National Museum, a “student of the flora of South America”
Astroblepus sabalo (Valenciennes 1840) a common Spanish name for many fishes from South America, including this one
Astroblepus santanderensis Eigenmann 1918 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Santander, Colombia, where type locality (Quebrada [brook] do Guapota) is situated
Astroblepus simonsii (Regan 1904) in honor of the late Perry Oveitt Simons (1869–1901), American natural history collector in South America, who collected holotype (his guide murdered him while crossing the Andes of Argentina, presumably for his money and gear)
Astroblepus stuebeli (Wandolleck 1916) in honor of Moritz Alphons Stübel (1835–1904), German geologist and vulcanologist, whose collection provided holotype
Astroblepus supramollis Pearson 1937 supra- (L.), above; mollis (L.), soft, referring to jelly-like substance beneath skin on top of head and in front of dorsal fin on sexually mature specimens in life (in preservative the substance disappeared and the skin became wrinkled)
Astroblepus taczanowskii (Boulenger 1890) in memory of Polish zoologist Władysław (or Ladislas) Taczanowski (1819–1890), who provided holotype during an exchange between the British Museum (Natural History) and the Warsaw University Museum
Astroblepus tamboensis Ardila Rodríguez 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: río Tambo, Huánuco, Peru, type locality
Astroblepus theresiae (Steindachner 1907) in honor of Princess Theresa of Bavaria (Therese von Bayern, 1850–1925), amateur naturalist and explorer, for promoting of knowledge of the fauna of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador via her scientific expeditions to South America
Astroblepus trifasciatus (Eigenmann 1912) tri– (L.), three; fasciatus (L.), banded, presumably referring to three black bands on young specimens, although Eigenmann describes four: “across the head, another across the back at the base of dorsal fin, another across the anterior part of adipose and the back just in front of it and another across the end of the caudal peduncle”
Astroblepus ubidiai (Pellegrin 1931) in honor of Georges Ubidia, a student of Swiss parasitologist Otto Fuhrmann (1871–1945); Ubidia collected the holotype, which Fuhrmann forwarded to Pellegrin
Astroblepus unifasciatus (Eigenmann 1912) uni-, from unus (L.), one; fasciatus (L.), banded, presumably referring to a “light band, clear or marbled, from the posterior portion of the spine of the adipose and the back of the caudal peduncle obliquely downward and forward”
Astroblepus vaillanti (Regan 1904) in honor of French zoologist Léon Vaillant (1834–1914), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), “through whose kindness [Regan] was permitted to examine the specimens in the Jardin des Plantes”
Astroblepus vanceae (Eigenmann 1913) in honor of Miss Lola E. Vance (Mrs. Jacob Lievense, no other information available), who provided a small collection of fishes from Peru, including holotype of this one
Astroblepus ventralis (Eigenmann 1912) Latin for of the belly, referring to lancet-shaped ventral fins, reaching slightly beyond anus in large males and females
Astroblepus verai Ardila Rodríguez 2015 in honor of Colombian agronomist Jorge Augusto Vera Mantilla, for his help in capturing the type specimens
Astroblepus whymperi (Boulenger 1890) in honor of English mountaineer and explorer Edward Whymper (1840–1911), who collected fishes, amphibians and reptiles in the Andes of Ecuador, including holotype of this catfish, which he sent to the British Museum (Natural History)