COMMENTS
v. 30.0 – 27 Sept. 2023  view/download PDF

Family HEPTAPTERIDAE Three-barbled Catfishes
24 genera · 238 species/subspecies

Subfamily RHAMDIINAE

Brachyrhamdia Myers 1927    brachy, short, presumably referring to “rather compact” body; Rhamdia, a related genus (although genus is related to and most closely resembles Pimelodella, and the type species, B. imitator, resembles the callichthyid genus Corydoras)

Brachyrhamdia heteropleura (Eigenmann 1912)    heteros, different; pleurus, of the side, referring to “punctate” sides, “the chromatophores in the median area between the dorsal and anal gathered along the septa; a median series of chromatophores along the sides”

Brachyrhamdia imitator Myers 1927    mimic, sympatric with and very similar in form and color to the callichthyid catfish Corydoras melanistius

Brachyrhamdia marthae Sands & Black 1985    in honor of Martha Elizabeth Sands, the senior author’s wife

Brachyrhamdia meesi Sands & Black 1985    in honor of Dutch ichthyologist-ornithologist Gerloff F. Mees (1926-2013), for contributions to the knowledge of South American catfishes

Brachyrhamdia rambarrani (Axelrod & Burgess 1987)    in honor of Harry Rambarran, co-manager of International Fisheries, Inc. (Hialeah, Florida, USA), an aquarium-fish exporter that supplied type

Brachyrhamdia thayeria Slobodian & Bockmann 2013    referring to Thayeria Eigenmann (1908), a genus of South American characins that have a similar diagonal dark stripe on caudal peduncle; also in honor of financier and philanthropist Nathaniel Thayer, Jr. (1808-1883), who sponsored a 15-month expedition to Brazil (1865-1866, then known as Thayer Expedition), which was responsible for important discoveries of many Amazon fishes

Goeldiella Eigenmann & Norris 1900    –ella, a diminutive connoting endearment: in honor of Swiss-Brazilian zoologist Émil Goeldi (1859-1917), director, Museu Paraense (now called Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi)

Goeldiella eques (Müller & Troschel 1849)    horseman or rider, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to oblique saddle-like markings on sides in front of dorsal fin

Pimelodella Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    diminutive of Pimelodus (Pimelodidae), referring to its similarity to that genus (which were confamilial at the time)

Pimelodella altipinnis (Steindachner 1864)    altus, high; pinnis, fin, referring to long caudal-fin lobes, twice as long as head

Pimelodella australis Eigenmann 1917    southern, described as a southern subspecies of P. laticeps

Pimelodella avanhandavae Eigenmann 1917    of Salto Avanhandava, Brazil, waterfall on the Rio Tietê, type locality

Pimelodella bockmanni Slobodian & Pastana 2018    in honor of Flávio A. Bockman, Universidade de São Paulo, an “expert” on the taxonomy of Heptapteridae, a “great anatomist,” and a former advisor of both authors whose studies have “repeatedly demonstrated that taxonomy and species delimitation greatly benefit from more thorough anatomical examination”

Pimelodella boliviana Eigenmann 1917    Bolivian, referring to country where it is endemic

Pimelodella boschmai Van der Stigchel 1964    in honor of Hilbrand Boschma (1893-1976), Dutch zoologist and director of the Rijksmuseum of Natural History in Leiden, where type is housed [published in a volume of papers honoring Boschma]

Pimelodella brasiliensis (Steindachner 1877)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Brazil, where it is endemic

Pimelodella breviceps (Kner 1858)    brevis, short; ceps, referring to short head, 6½ times in TL

Pimelodella buckleyi (Boulenger 1887)    in honor of the late Clarence Buckley (d. 1889), who collected many plants and animals in Ecuador, including type of this one

Pimelodella chagresi (Steindachner 1876)    of the Río Chagres drainage, Panama, where it is endemic

Pimelodella chaparae Fowler 1940    of Boca Chapare, Cochabamba, Bolivia, type locality

Pimelodella conquetaensis Ahl 1925    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Río Caquetá, Colombia, type locality [note that Ahl apparently misspelled the name]

Pimelodella cristata (Müller & Troschel 1849)    crested, allusion not explained nor evident [may date to 1848]

Pimelodella cruxenti Fernández-Yépez 1950    in honor of Venezuelan archaeologist José María Cruxent (1911-2005), who collected type

Pimelodella cyanostigma (Cope 1870)    cyano-, blue; stigma, mark or spot, referring to iridescent blue spot above posterior margin of orbit

Pimelodella dorseyi Fowler 1941    in honor of Lewis M. Dorsey, Jr., of Philadelphia, to whom Fowler was “indebted for local fishes”

Pimelodella eigenmanni (Boulenger 1891)    in honor of ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927), who reported this catfish as P. buckleyi in 1890

Pimelodella eigenmanniorum (Miranda Ribeiro 1911)    –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of ichthyologists Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927) and his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann (1858-1947), authors of a “magnifica” revision of South American catfishes (1890)

Pimelodella elongata (Günther 1860)    referring to its elongate, posteriorly compressed body

Pimelodella enochi Fowler 1941    in honor of Dr. George F. Enoch of Philadelphia, to whom Fowler was “indebted for various local fishes”

Pimelodella eutaenia Regan 1913    eu-, well or very; taenia, band, referring to “strong” blackish stripe from snout through eye to base of caudal fin

Pimelodella figueroai Dahl 1961    in honor of zoologist Adalberto Figueroa, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, for his “incessant work” and important contributions to the knowledge of the fauna of Colombia

Pimelodella floridablancaensis Ardila Rodríguez 2017    –ensis, suffix denoting place: municipio de Floridablanca, Departamento de Santander, Colombia, type locality and the author’s hometown, on the occasion of its bicentennial

Pimelodella geryi Hoedeman 1961    in honor of ichthyologist Jacques Géry (1917-2007), who collected type

Pimelodella gracilis (Valenciennes 1835)    slender, referring to its shape

Pimelodella griffini Eigenmann 1917    patronym not identified, probably in honor of Lawrence Edmonds Griffin (1874-1949), Eigenmann’s herpetological colleague at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Pimelodella grisea (Regan 1903)    gray, referring to its grayish body color

Pimelodella harttii (Steindachner 1877)    in honor of Charles Frederick Hartt (1840-1878), geologist, paleontologist and naturalist, who helped collect type during the Thayer Expedition (1865-1866) to Brazil

Pimelodella hartwelli Fowler 1940    in honor of Robert Hartwell (Cleveland, Ohio, USA), who helped in the expedition that collected type

Pimelodella hasemani Eigenmann 1917    in honor of John D. Haseman (1882-1969), Eigenmann’s student and field collector for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, who collected some of the type series

Pimelodella howesi Fowler 1940    in honor of Gordon Howes, who collected many Bolivian fishes, including type of this one

Pimelodella humeralis Slobodian, Akama & Dutra 2017    of the shoulder, referring to conspicuous dark blotch in humeral area, a feature not observed in any other nominal species of Pimelodella

Pimelodella ignobilis (Steindachner 1907)    unknown or obscure, allusion likewise unknown and obscure, perhaps referring to similarity to Rhamdella jenynsii, its presumed congener at the time

Pimelodella itapicuruensis Eigenmann 1917    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Rio Itapicurú at Queimadas, Bahia State, Brazil, type locality

Pimelodella kronei (Miranda Ribeiro 1907)    in honor of Ricardo Krone (1861-1917), who surveyed the caves of Brazil and led expedition that collected type

Pimelodella lateristriga (Lichtenstein 1823)    lateris; side; striga, streak, referring to blue-silver longitudinal stripe on sides

Pimelodella laticeps Eigenmann 1917    latus, wide or broad; ceps, head, presumably referring to “very broad” infraorbital, “3–3.5 in the head”

Pimelodella laurenti Fowler 1941    in honor of Philip Laurent (1858-1942), industrialist and amateur naturalist, “long associated in the entomological department” of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Pimelodella leptosoma (Fowler 1914)    leptos, thin; soma, body, referring to elongate, slender, compressed body, more slender than Rhamdia foina, its presumed congener at the time

Pimelodella linami Schultz 1944    in honor of Henry E. Linam (1899-1972), general manager of the Standard Oil Co. of Venezuela, who invited Schultz to stay at their camps and study the fishes of the Maracaibo Basin

Pimelodella longibarbata Cortés-Hernández, DoNascimiento & Ramírez-Gil 2020    longus, long; barbata, bearded, referring to long maxillary barbel

Pimelodella longipinnis (Borodin 1927)    longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to its “exceptionally” long fins

Pimelodella macrocephala (Miles 1943)    macro-, large; cephala, head, referring to larger head compared to Imparfinis nemacheir, its presumed congener at the time

Pimelodella macturki Eigenmann 1912    in honor of Michael McTurk (1843-1915, note spelling), Commissioner for the Essequibo and Pomeroon Rivers District, British Guiana, who delivered a parcel of letters to Eigenmann during his 1908 expedition to Guyana

Pimelodella martinezi Fernández-Yépez 1970    in honor of Alfonzo Martinez M., a rural physician in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela, who is dedicated to the study of gamefish in Colombia

Pimelodella meeki Eigenmann 1910    in honor of ichthyologist Seth Eugene Meek (1859-1914), who described this catfish in Eigenmann’s honor in 1905 but used a preoccupied name (Pimelodella eigenmanni)

Pimelodella megalops Eigenmann 1912    mega-, large; ops, referring to its “distinctly larger” eye compared to P. macturki

Pimelodella megalura Miranda Ribeiro 1918    mega-, large; oura, tail, presumably referring to “greatly developed” (translation) caudal-fin lobes

Pimelodella metae Eigenmann 1917    of the Meta River basin, Colombia, where it is endemic

Pimelodella modestus (Günther 1860)    moderate or unassuming, perhaps referring to less elongate shape and/or lack of spots on caudal and dorsal fins compared to P. elongatus, described in same publication

Pimelodella montana Allen 1942    mountain, collected at 5400 feet above sea level

Pimelodella mucosa Eigenmann & Ward 1907    slimy, allusion not explained nor evident

Pimelodella nigrofasciata (Perugia 1897)    nigro-, black; fasciata, banded, referring to black band running from base of maxillary barbels, along lateral line, to base of caudal fin

Pimelodella notomelas Eigenmann 1917    notos, back; melas, black, referring to black “wedge” through dorsal fin, the black on the first three membranes forming a “conspicuous blotch”

Pimelodella odynea Schultz 1944    Latin for pain, referring to “severe pain caused by these little catfishes when [Schultz’] fingers were pricked by their pectoral spines”

Pimelodella ophthalmica (Cope 1878)    –ica, adjectival suffix; opthalmus, eye, i.e., eyed, referring to large eyes, “entering the length of the head three and three-eighth times, and exceeding the interorbital width by 2 mm”

Pimelodella papariae (Fowler 1941)    of Lago Papary, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, type locality

Pimelodella pappenheimi Ahl 1925    in honor of ichthyologist Paul Pappenheim (1878-1945), Director of the Berlin Zoological Museum

Pimelodella parnahybae Fowler 1941    of the Rio Parnahyba, Therezina, Piauhy, Brazil, type locality

Pimelodella parva Güntert 1942    small, TL of type specimen just 28 mm

Pimelodella pectinifer Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    comb-like, a name usually applied to gill rakers, which the Eigenmanns did not describe in detail

Pimelodella peruana Eigenmann & Myers 1942    –ana, belonging to: Peru, where it is endemic to the Ucayali River basin

Pimelodella peruensis Fowler 1915    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Peru, where it is endemic to the Amazon River basin

Pimelodella procera Mees 1983    elongate, described as a “very slender” species

Pimelodella rendahli Ahl 1925    in honor of zoologist and artist Hialmar Rendahl (1891-1969)

Pimelodella reyesi Dahl 1964    in honor of Hernan Reyes Duarte (1926-2012), Executive Director, Corporación Autónoma Regional para los Valles del Magdalena, Sinú y San Jorge (Colombia), the regional environmental authority that sponsored Dahl’s research and published his report

Pimelodella robinsoni (Fowler 1941)    in honor of the late Dr. George S. Robinson of Philadelphia, to whom Fowler was “indebted for many local fishes”

Pimelodella roccae Eigenmann 1917    of Rocca, “the first of the great Incas, proclaimed sovereign by the people, under direction of his mother, Siuyacu, the ladies of the court having an active part in shaping history, then as always” (per Eigenmann & Allen 1942)

Pimelodella rudolphi Miranda Ribeiro 1918    in honor of Rodolpho von Ihering (1883-1939), zoologist and fish culturist, who helped build the fish collection at the Museu de São Paulo

Pimelodella serrata Eigenmann 1917    toothed or serrate, referring to 17 minute teeth on upper 2/3 of posterior surface of dorsal spine

Pimelodella spelaea Trajano, Reis & Bichuette 2004    cave or cavern, referring to its subterranean stream habitat

Pimelodella steindachneri Eigenmann 1917    in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner (1834-1919), who reported this catfish as P. wesseli in 1877

Pimelodella straminea (Cope 1894)    straw-colored, referring to its “brownish straw-color, with silvery opercle” in spirits

Pimelodella taeniophora (Regan 1903)    taenia, band; phorus, bearer, probably referring to well-developed black lateral stripe extending from snout, through eye, to base of caudal fin

Pimelodella taenioptera Miranda Ribeiro 1914    taenia, ribbon; ptera, fin, presumably referring to filamentous first ray of dorsal fin

Pimelodella tapatapae Eigenmann 1920    of the Tapa Tapa River, Lake Valencia drainage, Venezuela, type locality

Pimelodella transitoria Miranda Ribeiro 1907    transitional, the putative ancestor to the blind P. kronei

Pimelodella vittata (Lütken 1874)    banded, referring to dark lateral stripe on sides

Pimelodella wesselii (Steindachner 1877)    in honor of Carl Wessel, a Hamburg seller of natural history items (including several fishes described by Steindachner) to the Vienna Museum

Pimelodella witmeri Fowler 1941    in honor of Mr. J. S. Witmer, Jr., of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (USA), to whom Fowler was “indebted for Pennsylvania fishes”

Pimelodella wolfi (Fowler 1941)    in honor of the late Herman T. Wolf of Philadelphia, aquarist and horticulturist, “who made several interesting collections of American fishes” for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Pimelodella yaharo Conde-Saldaña, Albornoz-Garzón, García-Melo, Dergam & Villa-Navarro 2019    Yaharo, pre-conquest name of present-day Dibulla (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia), type locality

Pimelodella yuncensis Steindachner 1902    –ensis, a suffix that usually denotes place but used here “in memory of the highly civilized indians of the Yunca tribe, that once populated the coastal areas [of northern Peru] and left many monuments and craft items” (translation)

Rhamdella Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    –ella, a diminutive, proposed as a subgenus of Rhamdia

Rhamdella aymarae Miquelarena & Menni 1999    of the Aymara people of northwestern Argentina, where this catfish occurs

Rhamdella cainguae Bockmann & Miquelarena 2008    from the Guaraní ca´á, forest, and iguá, inhabitant, referring to the Cainguá, indigenous people of northeastern Argentina, where this catfish occurs

Rhamdella eriarcha (Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888)    eri-, very; architis, anus, referring to long anal fin

Rhamdella exsudans (Jenyns 1842)    sweating, allusion not explained nor evident

Rhamdella gilli (Starks 1906)    in honor of Smithsonian zoologist Theodore Gill (1837-1914) [possibly a junior synonym of Rhamdia quelen]

Rhamdella jenynsii (Günther 1864)    in honor of English clergyman and naturalist Leonard Jenyns (1800-1893), who reported this catfish as Pimelodus gracilis in 1842

Rhamdella longiuscula Lucena & da Silva 1991    diminutive of longior, longer, i.e., a little longer, referring to longer upper lobe of caudal fin compared to R. eriarcha

Rhamdella montana Eigenmann 1913    mountain, presumably referring to type locality in the highlands southeast of Tarma, Queta, Peru

Rhamdella rusbyi Pearson 1924    in honor of botanist, pharmacist and explorer Henry Hurd Rusby (1855-1940), leader of the 1921 Mulford Expedition to the Amazon basin that collected type

Rhamdella zelimai Reis, Malabarba & de Lucena 2014    in honor of “beloved friend” José Lima (nicknamed Zé Lima) de Figueiredo (b. 1943), Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, “a remarkable person” who helped shape Brazilian ichthyology and “whose friendship had a fundamental impact” on the authors’ early careers

Rhamdia Bleeker 1858    apparent misspelling or misprint of nhamdiâ (as reported by Marcgrave in 1648), an orthographic variant of jandiá, the Tupí-Guaraní name for R. quelen

Rhamdia branneri Haseman 1911    in honor of American geologist John Casper Branner (1950-1922), who “kindly assisted” Haseman at the beginning of his “long journey” to central South America

Rhamdia cinerascens (Günther 1860)    cinereus, ash-colored; –escens, becoming, presumably referring to “uniform greenish-grey” coloration of upper part of body

Rhamdia enfurnada Bichuette & Trajano 2005    named after Gruna do Enfurnado, Bahia, Brazil, type locality, meaning shut, hidden, or isolated in a cave or cavern

Rhamdia eurycephala Angrizani & Malabarba 2018    eury, broad; cephalus, head, only species in genus with head width at eye level greater than body width at pectoral girdle

Rhamdia foina (Müller & Troschel 1849)    polecat or marten, allusion not explained nor evident, perhaps referring to slender marten-like body (see Heptapterus mustelinus for a similar name)

Rhamdia gabrielae Angrizani & Malabarba 2018    in honor of Gabriele Volkmer, wife of the senior author

Rhamdia guasarensis DoNascimiento, Provenzano & Lundberg 2004    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Río Guasare, Venezuela, parent stream of subterranean waters where this catfish occurs

Rhamdia guatemalensis (Günther 1864)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Guatemala, type locality (but occurs throughout Atlantic Slope of Central America)

Rhamdia humilis (Günther 1864)    modest or unassuming, allusion not explained nor evident, perhaps referring to its uniform, nondescript coloration

Rhamdia itacaiunas Silfvergrip 1996    named for the Río Itacaiunas, Caldeirão, Brazil, origin of the two paratypes

Rhamdia jequitinhonha Silfvergrip 1996    named for the Río Jequitinhonha River drainage, eastern Brazil, where it appears to be endemic

Rhamdia laluchensis Weber, Allegrucci & Sbordoni 2003    –ensis, suffix denoting place: La Lucha cave system, Chiapas, México, where it appears to be endemic

Rhamdia laticauda laticauda (Kner 1858)    latus, wide or broad; cauda, tail, based on ms. name by Heckel, allusion not explained; may refer to caudal peduncle (per Silfvergrip’s 1996 revision of the genus), which does not taper as it reaches the tail

Rhamdia laticauda typhla Greenfield, Greenfield & Woods 1982    blind, referring to varying degrees of eye reduction

Rhamdia laukidi Bleeker 1858    local Arawak name for this species in Guyana

Rhamdia macuspanensis Weber & Wilkens 1998    –ensis, suffix denoting place: town of Macuspana, Tabasco, México, ~20 km northwest of type locality

Rhamdia muelleri (Günther 1864)    in honor of Johannes Müller (1801-1858), who, with Franz Hermann Troschel (1810-1882), described a similar catfish, Pimelodus musculus (=R. quelen), in 1849

Rhamdia nicaraguensis (Günther 1864)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Lake Nicaragua, Nicaragua, type locality (also occurs in Costa Rica)

Rhamdia parryi Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    in honor of botanist-geologist Charles Christopher Parry (1823-1890), a member of the Mexican Boundary Commission

Rhamdia parvus (Boulenger 1898)    small, presumably referring to its size, 95 mm TL

Rhamdia poeyi Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    patronym not identified but probably in honor of Cuban ichthyologist Felipe Poey (1799-1891)

Rhamdia quelen quelen (Quoy & Gaimard 1824)    in honor of Abbé (Father) Florentin-Louis de Quélen de la Villeglée (1762-?), chaplain on expedition that collected type [presumably a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]

Rhamdia quelen urichi (Norman 1926)    in honor of entomologist F. W. Urich, Department of Agriculture, Trinidad, who sent type to the British Museum (Natural History)

Rhamdia reddelli Miller 1984    in honor of James R. Reddell, arachnologist and herpetologist, University of Texas at Austin, a pioneer in exploring Latin American caves, who collected type

Rhamdia saijaensis Rendahl 1941    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Río Saija, Pacific slope, Colombia, type locality

Rhamdia schomburgkii Bleeker 1858    in honor of explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865), who described this catfish as Pimelodus maculatus in 1841 but used a preoccupied name

Rhamdia voulezi Haseman 1911    in “remembrance” of Antonio Voulez, a Frenchman of Serrinha Parana, Brazil, who in various ways assisted Haseman, including catching some of the type specimens

Rhamdia xetequepeque Silfvergrip 1996    named for Río Jequetepeque River, Peru, type locality (Silfvergrip selected a variant but erroneous spelling to avoid confusion with R. jequitinhonha, a practice, he said, in line with how the genus-group name Rhamdia was formed)

Rhamdia zongolicensis Wilkens 1993    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz, México, type locality

Subfamily HEPTAPTERINAE

Acentronichthys Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    a-, without and centron, thorn or spine, referring to spineless dorsal and pectoral fins; ichthys, fish

Acentronichthys leptos Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    fine or thin, referring to extremely elongate body

Brachyglanis Eigenmann 1912    brachys, short, referring to very short occipital process; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Brachyglanis frenatus Eigenmann 1912    bridled, referring to dark streak from anterior nares to upper angle of gill opening

Brachyglanis magoi Fernández-Yépez 1967    in honor of Venezuelan ichthyologist Francisco Mago-Leccia (1931-2004)

Brachyglanis melas Eigenmann 1912    black, referring to uniform light-brown to blue-black coloration

Brachyglanis microphthalmus Bizerril 1991    micro-, small; ophthalmus, eye, referring to its poorly developed eyes

Brachyglanis phalacra Eigenmann 1912    bald-headed, referring to large quadrate yellow spot just behind head

Cetopsorhamdia Eigenmann & Fisher 1916    cetos, whale; opsis, appearance, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to superficial resemblance to the whale catfish genus Cetopsis (Cetopsidae), i.e., a whale- or cetopsid-like Rhamdia

Cetopsorhamdia boquillae Eigenmann 1922    of Boquilla, Río Cauca, Colombia, type locality

Cetopsorhamdia clathrata Bockmann & Reis 2021    latticed, screened, or reticulate, referring to its crisscross color pattern

Cetopsorhamdia filamentosa Fowler 1945    bearing filaments, referring to long maxillary barbels, which reach base of ventral fins

Cetopsorhamdia hidalgoi Faustino-Fuster & de Souza 2021    in honor of colleague and friend Max Hidalgo, curator, Ichthyology Department, Museo de Historia Natural in the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, for his devotion and dedication to Peruvian ichthyology; he collected holotype and many specimens of the type series on expeditions that led to the creation of multiple conservation areas

Cetopsorhamdia iheringi Schubart & Gomes 1959    in honor of Rodolpho von Ihering (1883-1939), founder, Estação Experimental de Biologia e Piscicultura (Piraçununga, Brazil), a pioneer in the study and culture of Brazilian freshwater fishes

Cetopsorhamdia insidiosa (Steindachner 1915)    cunning, insidious or sly, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its great (and therefore misleading) similarity to Rhamdella montana

Cetopsorhamdia molinae Miles 1943    in honor of Ciro Molina Garcés (1891-1953), Secretary of Agriculture and Development, Valle del Cauca, for understanding the value of systematic research in all branches of science to the state and national economies of Colombia

Cetopsorhamdia nasus Eigenmann & Fisher 1916   nose, referring to projecting snout

Cetopsorhamdia orinoco Schultz 1944    named for the Río Orinoco system, Venezuela, type locality (also occurs in Ecuador)

Cetopsorhamdia phantasia Stewart 1985    fanciful or fantastic, allusion not explained, presumably referring to “striking” coloration with iridescent green on head and anterior part of body

Cetopsorhamdia picklei Schultz 1944    in honor of Chesley B. Pickle, Lago Petroleum Corporation, who aided Schultz in the collection of fishes at the southern end of Lago Maracaibo, Venezuela

Cetopsorhamdia shermani Schultz 1944    in honor of Roger H. Sherman (1904-1954), Standard Oil Co. of Venezuela, who helped Schultz “in many ways” while he was in Venezuela (e.g., he took Schultz on a collecting trip to the upper Rio Guarico, type locality)

Cetopsorhamdia spilopleura Bockmann & Reis 2021    spilos, spot or stain; pleura, side, referring to 18‑22 irregular, vertical brown bars on sides

Chasmocranus Eigenmann 1912    chasma, gaping; cranus, head, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to cavernous appearance of head caused by swollen cheeks

Chasmocranus brachynemus Gomes & Schubart 1958    brachys, short; nema, thread, referring to short maxillary barbels (29 mm), not quite reaching origin of pectoral fin

Chasmocranus brevior Eigenmann 1912    shorter, referring to shorter adipose fin compared to C. longior

Chasmocranus chimantanus Inger 1956    –anus, belonging to: west side of Chimantá-tepui (a mesa or table-top mountain), Venezuela, type locality

Chasmocranus longior Eigenmann 1912    longer, referring to longer adipose fin compared to C. brevior

Chasmocranus lopezi Miranda Ribeiro 1968    in honor of zoologist Maria Theresa Lopez (1927-2006), Centro de Investigaciones Zoologicas de Universidade de Chile (Santiago), who collected type [preferably spelled lopezae since name honors a woman, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Chasmocranus peruanus Eigenmann & Pearson 1942    –anus, belonging to: Amazon River basin of Peru, where it is endemic

Chasmocranus quadrizonatus Pearson 1937    quadri-, fourfold; zonatus, banded, referring to four wide dark-brown bands on back

Chasmocranus rosae Eigenmann 1922    matronym not identified, probably in honor of Eigenmann’s wife Rosa Smith (1858-1947), herself an ichthyologist

Chasmocranus surinamensis (Bleeker 1862)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Suriname, where it is endemic to the Suriname River basin

Chasmocranus truncatorostris Borodin 1927    rostris, snout, referring to its “squarely truncate” or square-cut snout

Gladioglanis Ferraris & Mago-Leccia 1989    gladius, sword, referring to its strong and massive pectoral spine; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Gladioglanis anacanthus Rocha, de Oliveira & Rapp Py-Daniel 2008    an-, without; acanthus, spine, referring to absence of dorsal-fin spine

Gladioglanis conquistador Lundberg, Bornbusch & Mago-Leccia 1991    Spanish word for conqueror, referring to “well-armored spines that are the theme underlying the name Gladioglanis”

Gladioglanis machadoi Ferraris & Mago-Leccia 1989    in honor of Antonio Machado Allison (b. 1945), Universidad Central de Venezuela (Caracas), for his interest in Venezuelan freshwater fishes and for first having collected this species

Heptapterus Bleeker 1858    hepta, seven; pterus, fin, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to confluent adipose and caudal fins of H. mustelinus, which gives the appearance that it has seven instead of eight fins

Heptapterus bleekeri Boeseman 1953    in honor of Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878), who proposed the genus in 1858

Heptapterus carmelitanorum Azevedo-Santos, Deprá, Aguilera, Faustino-Fuster & Katz 2022    –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of Carmelitanos (in Portuguese), local name of people born or living in Carmo do Rio Claro (Minas Gerais, Brazil), type locality, particularly Ana Maria Vilela Soares, José Cândido de Mello Carvalho, Moara Lemos and Carlos Roberto Bueno Júnior, for their contributions to biology

Heptapterus carnatus Faustino-Fuster, Bockmann & Malabarba 2019    corpulent or fat, referring to body shape, particularly anterior body before dorsal-fin origin

Heptapterus exilis Faustino-Fuster, Bockmann & Malabarba 2019    slender, referring to body shape

Heptapterus fissipinnis Miranda Ribeiro 1911    fissus, cloven (i.e., split in two); pinnis, fin, presumably referring to forked caudal fin

Heptapterus hollandi (Haseman 1911)    in honor of zoologist-paleontologist William J. Holland (1848-1932), Director, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which sponsored several expeditions to South America

Heptapterus longicauda (Borodin 1927)      longus, long; cauda, tail, referring to its “extraordinarily” long caudal fin, 2½ times in body length [often spelled longicaudus]

Heptapterus mandimbusu Aguilera, Benitez, Terán, Alonso & Mirande 2017    combination of the Guaraní words mandí (catfish) and mbusu (eel), referring to its body form and vernacular name used in Argentina to refer to Heptapterus (bagre anguila)

Heptapterus mbya Azpelicueta, Aguilera & Mirande 2011    Guarani name for aborigines who live in the Cuña-Pirú Valley and Parque Provincial Salto Encantado (Misiones, Argentina), where this catfish occurs

Heptapterus multiradiatus Ihering 1907    multi-, many; radiatus, rayed, referring to greater number of anal-fin rays (36) compared to H. mustelinus (15-24)

Heptapterus mustelinus (Valenciennes 1835)    weasel-like, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to elongate weasel-like body (see Rhamdia foina for a similar name)

Heptapterus ornaticeps Ahl 1936    ornatus, decorated; ceps, head, referring to dark transverse band extending from gill cover through eye to tip of snout

Heptapterus panamensis (Bussing 1970)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Panama, where it is endemic

Heptapterus qenqo Aguilera, Mirande & Azpelicueta 2011    derived from a Quechua word meaning serpentine or sinuous, referring to its swimming behavior

Heptapterus stewarti Haseman 1911    in honor of Douglas Stewart (1873-1926), Curator of Mineralogy and Assistant to the Director of the Carnegie Museum, who “in various ways” assisted Haseman during and after his expedition to Brazil

Heptapterus sympterygium Buckup 1988    syn-, together; pterygion, fin, referring to confluent anal and caudal fins

Heptapterus tapanahoniensis Mees 1967    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tapanahoni River, Suriname, where it is very common under stones

Horiomyzon Stewart 1986    horios, boundaries; myzo, suck, referring to presumed habitat in boundary zone on river bottom and presumed mode of feeding

Horiomyzon retropinnatus Stewart 1986    retro-, backward; pinnatus, finned, referring to backward-pointing pectoral fin

Imparfinis Eigenmann & Norris 1900    impar, unequal; finis, end or latinization of the Anglo-Saxon fin, referring to caudal fin of I. piperatus, whose upper lobe is longer and wider than its lower

Imparfinis cochabambae (Fowler 1940)    of the Department of Cochabamba, Bolivia, type locality

Imparfinis guttatus (Pearson 1924)    spotted, referring to large dark spot on supraoccipital, dark spot just behind gill opening, four dark spots on back, and (on juveniles) three spots along sides

Imparfinis hasemani Steindachner 1915    in honor of John D. Haseman (1882-1969), Carl Eigenmann’s student and field collector for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, who collected type

Imparfinis lepturus Silva, Reia, Morimoto, Benine & Oliveira 2023    leptos, thin or slender; urus, from oura, tail, referring to its depressed caudal peduncle

Imparfinis lineatus (Bussing 1970)    lined, referring to pronounced lateral stripe extending from tip of snout to caudal base

Imparfinis longicauda (Boulenger 1887)    longus, long; cauda, tail, referring to long upper caudal-fin lobe, more than ¼ TL

Imparfinis microps Eigenmann & Fisher 1916    micro-, small; ops, eye, referring to small eye, its diameter 12 times in the head

Imparfinis minutus (Lütken 1874)    small, referring to small size (barely 31/3 uncias, or 82 mm) compared to other Rhamdia, genus at time of description

Imparfinis mirini Haseman 1911    named for Rio Piracicaba-mirini, near Piracicaba, Brazil, type locality

Imparfinis mishky Almirón, Casciotta, Bechara, Ruíz Díaz, Bruno, d’Ambrosio, Solimano & Soneira 2007    Quichua word for sweet, in memory of Patricia Garcia Tartalo, friend and student, who died tragically in February 2006

Imparfinis munduruku Castro & Wosiacki 2019    named for the indigenous Munduruku tribe, who traditionally inhabit the banks of the Rio Tapajós in southwest Pará (including type locality), northern Mato Grosso, and east Amazonas, Brazil

Imparfinis nemacheir (Eigenmann & Fisher 1916)    nema-, thread; cheir, hand, referring to first pectoral-fin rays prolonged beyond rest of fin (more pronounced in females)

Imparfinis pijpersi (Hoedeman 1961)    in honor of H. P. Pijpers, Surinam Army, who provided a rich collection of characins and catfishes from his country, including, presumably, type of this one

Imparfinis piperatus Eigenmann & Norris 1900    peppered, referring to its densely speckled sides

Imparfinis pristos Mees & Cala 1989    etymology not explained, presumably saw, sword or sawed, referring to snout, which protrudes over “far over entirely inferior mouth”

Imparfinis pseudonemacheir Mees & Cala 1989    pseudo-, false, i.e., although very similar to I. nemacheir, such an appearance is false

Imparfinis robustus Cortés-Hernández, López-Castaño, Milani & DoNascimiento 2023    Latin for of oak or oaken and, by extension, hard, firm or solid (but often used by ichthyologists to mean fat or stout), referring to its body, characteristic of large adults

Imparfinis schubarti (Gomes 1956)    in honor of myriapodist Otto Schubart (1900-1962), Estação Experimental de Biologia e Piscicultura do Ministério de Agricultura (São Paulo, Brazil), who studied the stomach contents of five specimens

Imparfinis spurrellii (Regan 1913)    in honor of British zoologist Henry George Flaxman Spurrell (1882-1919), who collected type

Imparfinis stictonotus (Fowler 1940)    stictos, spotted; notos, back, referring to eight blackish saddles on back

Imparfinis timana Ortega-Lara, Milani, DoNascimiento, Villa-Navarro & Maldonado-Ocampo 2011    named for the Timana, indigenous people inhabiting west flank of the eastern cordillera, in the Colombian Andes, from San Agustin to Pitalito (Departamento del Huila), where this catfish occurs

Imparfinis usmai Ortega-Lara, Milani, DoNascimiento, Villa-Navarro & Maldonado-Ocampo 2011    in honor of Saulo Usma, for contributions to ichthyological collection building in the Cauca valley, and for promoting an active interchange between Colombian and Venezuelan ichthyologists ever since his MSc studies in 2000 at Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Ezequiel Zamora (Guanare, Venezuela)

Leptorhamdia Eigenmann 1918    leptos, slender, referring to elongate body of L. essequibensis; Rhamdia, a related genus [replacement name for Leptoglanis Eigenmann 1912, preoccupied by Leptoglanis Boulenger 1902 in Amphiliidae]

Myoglanis aspredinoides (DoNascimiento & Lundberg 2005)    –oides, having the form of: referring to “remarkable” external resemblance to the catfish genus Aspredo (Aspredinidae)

Leptorhamdia essequibensis (Eigenmann 1912)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Essequibo River, Guyana, type locality (also occurs in Tocantins River, Brazil)

Leptorhamdia marmorata Myers 1928    marbled, described as “marbled and spotted with irregular light spots”

Leptorhamdia nocturna (Myers 1928)    of the night, presumably referring to “dull blackish brown” coloration

Leptorhamdia schultzi (Miranda Ribeiro 1964)    in honor of ethnographer and fish collector Harald Schultz (1909-1966), who collected type

Mastiglanis Bockmann 1994    mastix, Greek for whip, referring to filamentous pectoral and dorsal fins; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Mastiglanis asopos Bockmann 1994    Asopos, Greek river-god, alluding to its widespread distribution throughout the Amazon basin

Mastiglanis durantoni de Pinna & Keith 2019    in honor of entomologist-ichthyologist Michel Duranton, who collected type with junior author, for his “fascinating work” on the fauna of French Guiana

Mastiglanis yaguas Faustino-Fuster & Ortega 2020    named for Parque Nacional Yaguas in northeastern Peru, created recently (2018) as a conservation area to protect the flora, fauna, and hidden biodiversity of the Amazon

Myoglanis Eigenmann 1912    myos, muscle, referring to thick layer of muscle covering skull of M. potaroensis; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Myoglanis koepckei Chang 1999    in honor of Hans-Wilhelm Koepcke (1914-2000), founder and first curator of the ichthyological collections of the Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru [may belong in Leptorhamdia or a new genus]

Myoglanis potaroensis Eigenmann 1912    –ensis, suffix denoting place: “either confined to, or most abundant in, the cataracts of the lower Potaro” River in Guyana

Nannoglanis Boulenger 1887    nanus, small, referring to small size of N. fasciatus (52 mm TL); glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Nannoglanis fasciatus Boulenger 1887    banded, referring to four broad brown, black-edged crossbands on body

Nemuroglanis Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    nema-, thread and oura, tail, referring to long, lanceolate tail of N. lanceolatus; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Nemuroglanis furcatus Ribeiro, Pedroza & Rapp Py-Daniel 2011    forked, referring to deeply forked caudal fin

Nemuroglanis lanceolatus Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    referring to its long lanceolate tail

Nemuroglanis mariai (Schultz 1944)    in honor of French herpetologist and taxidermist Brother Nicéforo María (1888-1890), monastic name of Antoine Rouhaire, who collected type

Nemuroglanis pauciradiatus Ferraris 1988    paucus, few; radiatus, rayed, referring to relatively low number of anal-fin rays compared to congeners

Pariolius Cope 1872    etymology not explained, perhaps pario-, cheek and leios, smooth, referring to absence of “armature” (bony plates) on head

Pariolius armillatus Cope 1872    ornamented with a collar, referring to a “broad yellow collar [that] extends from the under surface on each side across the bases of the pectoral fins and the vertex”

Phenacorhamdia Dahl 1961    phenax, imposter or cheat; Rhamdia, a related genus, i.e., a false Rhamdia, presumably referring to similarity to that genus (although Dahl mentions that it appears related, though not closely, to Chasmocranus, Imparfinis and Pariolius)

Phenacorhamdia anisura (Mees 1987)    anisos, unequal; oura, tailed, referring to “unevenly” forked caudal fin, lower lobe longer than upper lobe

Phenacorhamdia boliviana (Pearson 1924)    Bolivian, referring to country where it is endemic

Phenacorhamdia cabocla Rocha, Ramos & Ramos 2018    derived from the Tupí kari’boca, meaning “person proceeding from the white people,” originally referring to descendants from the marriage between native South Americans and European colonizers, but with displacement of Native American peoples now meaning the opposite, i.e., “those proceeding from Native South American people,” used as a pejorative for those living in the countryside without access to technology (a naïve, shy, rude, leery person); as used here, name honors a fisherman from Uruçui Municipality, Piauí State, Brazil, known as “Caboclo Pescador,” who contributed to several fish sampling surveys in the Parnaíba River basin, which resulted in the discovery of this and other species

Phenacorhamdia hoehnei (Miranda Ribeiro 1914)    in honor of Brazilian botanist Frederico Carlos Hoehne (1882-1959), who collected type

Phenacorhamdia macarenensis Dahl 1961    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Macarena mountain range, Guaviare River basin, Colombia, type locality

Phenacorhamdia nigrolineata Zarske 1998    nigro-, black; lineatus, lined, referring to narrow black line along lateral line

Phenacorhamdia provenzanoi DoNascimiento & Milani 2008    in honor of Francisco Provenzano, for contributions to the knowledge of Venezuelan catfishes and extensive efforts in the study of Aro and Caura fish faunas, which produced many specimens of P. anisura and P. provenzanoi

Phenacorhamdia roxoi Silva 2020    in honor of Fábio Fernandes Roxo, Universidade Estadual Paulista, for contributions to the knowledge of neotropical ichthyology; he also helped collect part of the type series

Phenacorhamdia somnians (Mees 1974)    dreaming or sleeping, allusion not explained nor evident

Phenacorhamdia suia Silva, Ochoa & Castro 2022    named for the Suias indigenous people of Brazil, who, since the 1990s, “have stood out in the fight to protect the Suiá-Missu River environment and for recovery of their traditional lands outside the limits” of Xingu Indigenous Park (Mato Grosso, Brazil)

Phenacorhamdia taphorni DoNascimiento & Milani 2008    in honor of Donald C. Taphorn (b. 1951), Museu de Ciencias Naturales (Guanare, Venezuela), for “outstanding contributions to the ichthyological knowledge of the Venezuelan Llanos”

Phenacorhamdia tenebrosa (Schubart 1964)    dark, referring to darker coloration compared to its presumed congener at the time, Imparfinis piperatus

Phenacorhamdia tenuis (Mees 1986)    thin, referring to “extremely slender” body shape

Phenacorhamdia unifasciata Britski 1993    uni– one; fasciata, band, referring to wide, longitudinal black band on upper half of body</p

Rhamdioglanis Ihering 1907    rhamdio-, referring to general shape as Rhamdia; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Rhamdioglanis frenatus Ihering 1907    bridled, presumably referring to “dark hues on head, cheeks, back, and caudal regions”

Rhamdioglanis transfasciatus Miranda Ribeiro 1908    trans-, over; fasciatus, banded, referring to transverse black bands on body

Rhamdiopsis Haseman 1911    –opsis, appearance, presumably referring to similarity to Rhamdia

Rhamdiopsis krugi Bockmann & Castro 2010    in honor of Luiz Krug, tour guide based in Lençóis (Bahia, Brazil), for calling the authors’ attention to the existence of this catfish and helping to collect type series, and for his conservation efforts

Rhamdiopsis microcephala (Lütken 1874)    micro-, small; cephalus, head, referring to small, rounded head

Rhamdiopsis moreirai Haseman 1911    in honor of Brazilian zoologist Carlos Moreira (1869-1946), Secretary of the Geological Survey of Brazil, who “devoted much time” in assisting Haseman during his stay in Brazil

Taunayia Miranda Ribeiro 1918    –ia, belonging to: Brazilian historian, professor and novelist Alfonso d’Escragnolle Taunay (1876-1958), director, Museu Paulista

Taunayia bifasciata (Eigenmann & Norris 1900)    bi-, two; fasciata, banded, referring to dark band than runs across body from head to tail, and a second band higher on the body near back between dorsal and adipose fins

Incertae sedis

Conorhynchos Bleeker 1858    conus, cone; rhynchos, snout, like the specific name, referring to its elongate, conical snout [Incertae sedis in Superfamily Pimelodoidea and provisionally placed in this family pending further study

Conorhynchos conirostris (Valenciennes 1840)    conus, cone; rostris, snout, like the generic name, referring to its elongate, conical snout

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Family PHREATOBIIDAE Cistern Catfishes

Phreatobius Goeldi 1905    phreatos, well or spring; bios, life, i.e., living in a well, collected from an artificial well, or cistern, penetrating a near-surface aquifer of the Amazon basin

Phreatobius cisternarum Goeldi 1905    cisterna, an underground reservoir for water, where it was discovered

Phreatobius dracunculus Shibatta, Muriel-Cunha & de Pinna 2007    draco, dragon, referring to color and general aspect of body and fins; –unculus, a diminutive suffix

Phreatobius sanguijuela Fernández, Saucedo, Carvajal-Vallejos & Schaefer 2007    local name for this catfish in the region of Bolivia where it occurs

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Family PIMELODIDAE Long-whiskered Catfishes
32 genera.subgenera · 116 species 

Aguarunichthys Stewart 1986    Aguaruna, name of Jivaroan-speaking society of Amerindians who inhabit the Alto Rio Marañón region of the Peruvian Amazon where A. torosus was collected; ichthys, fish        

Aguarunichthys inpai Zuanon, Rapp Py-Daniel & Jégu 1993    of INPA, acronym for Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, which helped fund the authors’ field work 

Aguarunichthys tocantinsensis Zuanon, Rapp Py-Daniel & Jégu 1993    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tocantins River basin, Pará, Brazil, type locality    

Aguarunichthys torosus Stewart 1986    brawny or muscular, referring to body form of this big-river fish             

Bagropsis Lütken 1874    etymology not explained, perhaps –opsis, appearance, referring to similarity to other Bagrus catfishes (at the time, a catch-all genus that included several South American species)              

Bagropsis reinhardti Lütken 1874    in honor of Danish zoologist Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (1816-1882), with whom Lütken collaborated on many studies and who apparently collected type              

Bergiaria Eigenmann & Norris 1901    –aria, belonging to: Latvian zoologist Friedrich Wilhelm Karl (“Carlos”) Berg (1843-1902), Director, Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires [replacement name for Bergiella Eigenmann & Norris 1900, preoccupied by Bergiella Baker 1897 in Hymenoptera]         

Bergiaria platana (Steindachner 1908)    –ana, belonging to: referring to Río de la Plata, Argentina, type locality        

Bergiaria westermanni (Lütken 1874)    patronym not identified, probably in honor of Lütken’s fellow Dutchman Gerardus Frederick Westermann (1807-1890), who helped found the Amsterdam Zoo in 1838   

Brachyplatystoma Bleeker 1862    brachys, short, i.e., a short Platystoma, presumably referring to shorter, less-depressed mouth of B. vaillantii compared to other species then placed in Platystoma (=Sorubim)              

Subgenus Brachyplatystoma                                                      

Brachyplatystoma juruense (Boulenger 1898)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Rio Juruá, Brazil, type locality (also occurs in Peru and Venezuela, possibly also in Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador)           

Brachyplatystoma platynemum Boulenger 1898    platy, flat; nema, thread, referring to flattened, band-like maxillary and mental barbels        

Brachyplatystoma tigrinum (Britski 1981)    tiger-like, referring to diagonal stripes or bars on body                

Brachyplatystoma vaillantii (Valenciennes 1840)    in honor of François Levaillant (1753-1824), French explorer, naturalist and zoological collector, who brought the types to Europe

Subgenus Malacobagrus Bleeker 1862    malacos, soft, possibly referring to flexible spines of B. filamentosum; Bagrus, latinization of bagre, which, according to Marcgrave (1648), is a Portuguese word for catfish used in Brazil (possibly first applied to the marine ariid Bagre bagre), possibly used here to reflect Bleeker’s classification of this taxon in a phalanx he called Ariobagri     

Brachyplatystoma capapretum Lundberg & Akama 2005    from filhote de capa preta, Portuguese name for this catfish, i.e., “tiger catfish with black cloak or cape,” referring to extremely dark dorsal coloration of adults   

Brachyplatystoma filamentosum (Lichtenstein 1819)    referring to very long filamentous ray on upper lobe of caudal fin (in juveniles and sub-adults)               

Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii (Castelnau 1855)    in honor of Louis Rousseau (note spelling, 1811-1874), assistant naturalist, Muséum d’histoire naturelle (Paris), a “zealous traveler and skilled photographer” (translation) [Rousseau was a malacologist, collector, and pioneer in zoological and anthropological photography]        

Calophysus Müller & Troschel 1843    etymology not explained, possibly callo-, beautiful or calyx, cover; physa, bladder, referring to “delicate wreath” (translation) of caeca surrounding lateral and posterior margins of swim bladder           

Calophysus macropterus (Lichtenstein 1819)    macro-, long; pterus, fin, referring to exceptionally long adipose fin        

Cheirocerus Eigenmann 1917    cheiros, hand; ceros, horn, presumably referring to “very short, soft prolongation” of first pectoral-fin ray        

Cheirocerus abuelo (Schultz 1944)    common name of this species among people living in the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela, meaning grandfather, referring its extremely long “beard” or maxillary barbels (nearly as long as, or longer than, its total length)       

Cheirocerus eques Eigenmann 1917    horseman or rider, referring to black saddle marking in front of dorsal spine, extending 1/3 down the sides         

Cheirocerus goeldii (Steindachner 1908)    patronym not identified but probably in honor of Swiss-Brazilian zoologist Émil (or Emílio) Goeldi (1859-1917), Director of the Museo Paraense and author of numerous works on the natural history of Brazil   

Duopalatinus Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    duo, two; palatinus, palate, presumably referring to two well-separated patches of teeth (vomerine and palatine) on roof of mouth               

Duopalatinus emarginatus (Valenciennes 1840)    notched, presumably referring to emarginate caudal fin of dried and mounted type specimen (in which the lobes of an otherwise deeply forked caudal fin may have broken off)         

Duopalatinus peruanus Eigenmann & Allen 1942    Peruvian, described from that country (also occurs in Bolivia, Venezuela, and perhaps Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador)             

Exallodontus Lundberg, Mago-Leccia & Nass 1991    exallos, quite different; odontos, tooth, referring to unique dentition (2-3 rows of heavy, firmly attached conical teeth on premaxillae and dentaries) 

Exallodontus aguanai Lundberg, Mago-Leccia & Nass 1991    in honor of Leonidas Aguana, Universidad Central de Venezuela, whose friendship and “intrepid collaboration in the field” have contributed greatly to the authors’ research and to Venezuelan ichthyology              

Hemisorubim Bleeker 1862    hemi-, partial, referring to similarity to Sorubim (Bleeker placed both genera in his phalanx Sorubimes)   

Hemisorubim platyrhynchos (Valenciennes 1840)    platy, flat; rhynchos, snout, referring to its strongly depressed head, which resembles a duckbill    

Hypophthalmus Cuvier 1829    hypo-, under; opthalmos, eye, referring to low placement of eyes on head

Hypophthalmus celiae Littmann, Lundberg & Rocha 2021    in honor of Celia Bueno, Museum d’Histoire Naturelle de Neuchâtel (Switzerland), for providing “good humor” as well as photographic and radiographic images of the syntypes of H. edentatus, which revealed “key characteristics needed to correct the long-confused taxonomy of the genus”

Hypophthalmus donascimientoi Littmann, Lundberg & Rocha 2021    in honor of “good friend” and collaborator Carlos Luis DoNascimiento Montoya (b. 1973), Universidad de Carabobo (Colombia), for his many and continuing contributions to the discovery and knowledge of neotropical siluriform fishes

Hypophthalmus edentatus Spix & Agassiz 1829    toothless, referring to absence of teeth on jaws (but has many long gill rakers used to filter planktonic crustaceans)        

Hypophthalmus fimbriatus Kner 1858    fringed, allusion not explained, possibly referring to prominent but easily torn membrane along enlarged and paired inner mental barbels

Hypophthalmus marginatus Valenciennes 1840    bordered, referring to black tips or edges on caudal fin         

Hypophthalmus oremaculatus Nani & Fuster 1947    oris, mouth; maculatus, spotted, referring to two large black spots on palate that look like little teeth           

Iheringichthys Eigenmann & Norris 1900    in honor of German-Brazilian zoologist Hermann von Ihering (1850-1930), Director, Museu de São Paulo, Brazil; ichthys, fish         

Iheringichthys labrosus (Lütken 1874)    thick-lipped, referring to down-turned mouth surrounded by thick lips                 

Iheringichthys megalops Eigenmann & Ward 1907    mega-, large; ops, eye, referring to very large eyes, larger than those of I. labrosus        

Iheringichthys syi Azpelicueta & Britski 2012    Guaraní word for straight, referring to fine serration on anterior margin of pectoral-fin spine            

Leiarius Bleeker 1862    leios, smooth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to smooth (vs. granulated) head surface of L. longibarbis; arius, possibly used here to reflect Bleeker’s classification of this taxon in a phalanx he called Ariobagri      

Leiarius longibarbis (Castelnau 1855)    longus, long; barbis, barbel, referring to maxillary barbels that almost reach the tail, and mental barbels that extend beyond the pectoral fins                 

Leiarius marmoratus (Gill 1870)    marbled or mottled, referring to grayish ground color, which “forms meandering lines between the large blackish spots by which it is covered”     

Leiarius perruno (Schultz 1944)    local name for this species in the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela            

Leiarius pictus (Müller & Troschel 1849)    painted, probably referring to spots on adults      

Luciopimelodus Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888    lucius, pike, presumably referring to elongate and spatulate head, similar to that of a pike; Pimelodus, referring to previous placement of L. pati in that genus             

Luciopimelodus pati (Valenciennes 1835)    local Guaraní name for this catfish in Argentina                

Megalonema Eigenmann 1912    mega-, large; nema, thread or filament, presumably referring to long maxillary barbels of M. platycephalum, which reach anal fin  

Subgenus Megalonema                                             

Megalonema argentina (MacDonagh 1938)    named for country where it is endemic [sometimes spelled argentinus and argentinum]            

Megalonema pauciradiatum Eigenmann 1919    paucus, few; radiatum, rays, referring to fewer anal-fin rays (9) compared to M. platanum (12)           

Megalonema platanum (Günther 1880)    –anus, belonging to the Río de la Plata system, Argentina, type locality (also occurs in Brazil and Paraguay)     

Megalonema platycephalum Eigenmann 1912    platys, flat; cephalum, head, referring to head flat between the eyes             

Megalonema psammium Schultz 1944    sandy, referring to its occurrence over the sandy areas of rivers        

Subgenus Eretmomegalonema Lundberg & Dahdul 2008    eretmon, oar, referring to paddle-like pelvic fins, i.e., an oared Megalonema         

Megalonema amaxanthum Lundberg & Dahdul 2008    ama-, referring to Amazon River basin (Brazil, Guyana, Peru, Bolivia, and probably Colombia and Ecuador), where it occurs, i.e., an Amazonian M. xanthum                 

Megalonema orixanthum Lundberg & Dahdul 2008    ori-, referring to Orinoco River basin (Colombia, Venezuela), where it occurs, i.e., an Orinocian M. xanthum 

Megalonema xanthum Eigenmann 1912    xanthos, yellow, referring to coloration in life        

Parapimelodus La Monte 1933    para-, near, “doubtless related to Pimelodus, its peculiar characters seem to warrant making it the type of a new genus”          

Parapimelodus nigribarbis (Boulenger 1889)    nigri-, black; barbis, barbel, referring to “almost black” barbels     

Parapimelodus valenciennis (Lütken 1874)    –is, genitive singular of: patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865), co-author of the 22-volume Histoire Naturelle des Poissons (1828-1850), a basic reference for ichthyologists of the time                 

Phractocephalus Agassiz 1829    phraktos, fenced or walled in; cephalus, head, referring to well-developed dermal bones of skull and nape              

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus (Bloch & Schneider 1801)    hemiolios, one and one-half; pterus, fin, referring to half-rayed adipose fin (“pinnae secundae parte superiore radiata”)         

Pimelabditus Parisi & Lundberg 2009    Pimelodus, type genus of family; abditus, hidden, referring to the “hidden nature of a small fish species living in the difficult-to-collect rocky bottoms of swift, large rivers” whose recent discovery was something of a surprise                 

Pimelabditus moli Parisi & Lundberg 2009    in honor of aquatic ecologist Jan Mol (Anton de Kom University), for contributions to the knowledge of Suriname’s fishes        

Pimelodina Steindachner 1876    –ina, a diminutive, referring to close resemblance and/or close relationship to Pimelodus    

Pimelodina flavipinnis Steindachner 1876    flavus, yellow; pinnis, fin, referring to reddish-yellow fins         

Pimelodus Lacepède 1803    pimele, fat; –odes, having the form of, i.e., fatty, referring to their adipose fins (at the time, this was a catch-all genus for many catfish species, most of which possess a “fatty” or adipose fin) [note: many online references report that –odes is derived from odous, meaning teeth, but this is incorrect]        

Pimelodus absconditus Azpelicueta 1995    hidden, referring to its misidentification as P. maculatus (due to presence of dots) and with species of Iheringichthys (due to its thick lips)               

Pimelodus albicans (Valenciennes 1840)    whitish, referring to its local Spanish name in Buenos Aires, bagre blanc (white catfish)        

Pimelodus albofasciatus Mees 1974    albo-, white; fasciatus, banded, referring to broad white longitudinal band from head to tail               

Pimelodus altissimus Eigenmann & Pearson 1942    highest, referring to very long and high adipose fin             

Pimelodus argenteus Perugia 1891    silvery, referring to its “immaculate” (translation) silvery coloration  

Pimelodus atrobrunneus Vidal & Lucena 1999    atro-, black; brunneus, brown, referring to grey-brown to dark-brown uniform body coloration        

Pimelodus blochii Valenciennes 1840    in honor of Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799), who reported and illustrated this catfish as Silurus clarias in 1782            

Pimelodus britskii Garavello & Shibatta 2007    in honor of Heraldo A. Britski (Universidade de São Paulo), for significant contributions to neotropical ichthyology           

Pimelodus coprophagus Schultz 1944    copro-, dung; phagus, to eat, a “scavenger, eating any refuse that it can get”

Pimelodus crypticus Villa-Navarro & Cala 2017    hidden, referring to its identity being “hidden” due to prior confusion with P. yuma  

Pimelodus fur (Lütken 1874)    Latin for thief, based on local Brazilian name Papa-isca, or bait-eater, because it eats the bait put out for other fishes                 

Pimelodus garciabarrigai Dahl 1961    in honor of botanist Hernando García-Barriga (1913-2005), Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (Colombia), a member of expedition that collected type   

Pimelodus grosskopfii Steindachner 1879    in honor of Th. Grosskopf, who collected specimens in Colombia for the Berlin Museum, including type of this catfish

Pimelodus halisodous Ribeiro, Lucena & Lucinda 2008    halis, plenty or sufficient; odous, tooth, referring to several (~15) irregular rows of conical, slender teeth on each premaxilla       

Pimelodus jivaro Eigenmann & Pearson 1942    named for the dominant indigenous tribe of the region, the “head-hunters,” or Jivaros, of the upper Amazon of Peru           

Pimelodus joannis Ribeiro, Lucena & Lucinda 2008    –is, genitive singular of: John G. Lundberg (b. 1942), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for his many contributions to catfish systematics  

Pimelodus luciae Rocha & Ribeiro 2010    in honor of Lúcia Rapp Py-Daniel, curator of fishes, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, for her many contributions to catfish systematics    

Pimelodus maculatus Lacepède 1803    spotted, referring to its color pattern             

Pimelodus microstoma Steindachner 1877    micro-, small; stoma, mouth, referring to small mouth compared to most Amazonian congeners        

Pimelodus multicratifer Ribeiro, Lucena & Oyakawa 2011    multi-, many; cratis, rake; fero-, to bear, referring to 26-30 gill rakers on first branchial arch         

Pimelodus mysteriosus Azpelicueta 1998    secret or mysterious, referring to its cryptic similarity to P. maculatus                

Pimelodus navarroi Schultz 1944    in honor of Rafael Navarro, who acted as Schultz’ assistant in collecting many of the fishes he reported upon from the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela        

Pimelodus ornatus Kner 1858    decorated, a “beautifully colored” (translation) catfish featuring two black stripes along lateral line and a vertical stripe extending from front of dorsal fin to underside of belly                 

Pimelodus ortmanni Haseman 1911    in honor of malacologist Arnold E. Ortmann (1863-1927), curator of invertebrate zoology at the Carnegie Museum, for whom Haseman collected specimens                

Pimelodus pantaneiro Souza-Filho & Shibatta 2007    inhabitant of the Pantanal region, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil        

Pimelodus paranaensis Britski & Langeani 1988    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Upper Paraná River basin, Brazil, where it is endemic               

Pimelodus pictus Steindachner 1876    painted, referring to black spots on silver-gray body       

Pimelodus pintado Azpelicueta, Lundberg & Loureiro 2008    local name for this catfish along the Cebollatí River, Uruguay (type locality), from the Spanish pintado, spotted or with points, referring to densely spotted pigmentation pattern with many small dots irregularly placed over sides, head and fins          

Pimelodus platicirris Borodin 1927    platys, flat; cirrus, curl or tendril, referring to flattened (not round) maxillary barbels  

Pimelodus pohli Ribeiro & Lucena 2006    in honor of botanist-geologist-physician Johan B. Emanuel Pohl (1782-1834), participant in the Austrian Mission to Brazil (1817-1836) with Johann Natterer, who collected in several localities in the rio São Francisco drainage, where this catfish occurs  

Pimelodus punctatus (Meek & Hildebrand 1913)    spotted, referring to many small black spots on sides and top of head      

Pimelodus quadratus Lucinda, Ribeiro & Lucena 2016    squared, referring to square patches of pigmentation along flanks of juveniles, which help to distinguish this species

Pimelodus speciosus Costa e Silva, Ribeiro, Lucena & Lucinda 2018    beautiful, referring to a unique color pattern consisting of variably shaped dark blotches irregularly distributed along flanks and coalescing horizontally and vertically, and background coloration light pink to light gray

Pimelodus stewarti Ribeiro, Lucena & Lucinda 2008    in honor of Donald J. Stewart (b. 1946), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, for his many contributions to catfish systematics         

Pimelodus tetramerus Ribeiro & Lucena 2006    tetra, four; meros, part, referring to four dark bands on sides  

Pimelodus yuma Villa-Navarro & Acero P. 2017    name given by indigenous people for the Magdalena River, Colombia, where it occurs    

Pinirampus Bleeker 1858    tautonymous with Pimelodus pirinampu (but Bleeker misspelled the name)

Pinirampus pirinampu (Spix & Agassiz 1829)    pirinampú, local name for this catfish in Brazil at time of description   

Platynematichthys Bleeker 1858    platy, flat and nema, thread, referring to “tape-like, flat” barbels (translation); ichthys, fish               

Platynematichthys notatus (Jardine 1841)    marked, referring to black stripe on lower lobe of tail and/or black spots “thickly set” on upper half of body           

Platysilurus Haseman 1911    platy, flat or broad, presmably referring to shape of head; silurus, from the Greek silouros, catfish            

Platysilurus malarmo Schultz 1944    local name of this species “in the territory of the hostile Motilone Indians” of Venezuela, meaning bony-cheek, referring to ossified part of maxillary barbels    

Platysilurus mucosus (Vaillant 1880)    slimy, referring to large mucous pores on lower jaw          

Platysilurus olallae (Orcés V. 1977)    in honor of R. Olalla (either Ramón or his brother Rosalino, part of an animal-collecting family business led by their father Carlos), who collected type         

Platystomatichthys Bleeker 1862    Platystoma, referring to previous placement of P. sturio in that genus (now a synonym of Sorubim); ichthys, fish        

Platystomatichthys sturio (Kner 1858)    Latin for sturgeon, referring to sturgeon-like head and body shape

Propimelodus Lundberg & Parisi 2002    pro-, before, suggesting the primitive condition of its trigeminofacial foramen relative to Pimelodus 

Propimelodus araguayae Rocha, de Oliveira & Rapp Py-Daniel 2007    of the rio Araguaia (old spelling Araguaya), Mato Grosso, Brazil, only known area of occurrence  

Propimelodus caesius Parisi, Lundberg & DoNascimiento 2006    bluish-gray, referring to “attractive bluish life color”    

Propimelodus eigenmanni (Van der Stigchel 1946)    in honor of Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927) who, along with his wife Rosa, reported this species as a distinct form of Pimelodus (now Pimelodella) altipinnis (Heptapteridae) in 1888 

Pseudoplatystoma Bleeker 1862    pseudo-, false; platystoma, presumably referring to similarity to and/or close relationships with Brachyplatystoma and Hemiplatystoma (=Pseudoplatystoma), all proposed and classified together by Bleeker in the same publication     

Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Spix & Agassiz 1829)    apparent misspelling of coruscans, flashing or glittering, probably referring to bright coloration, yellow-orange above and silver below        

Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum (Linnaeus 1766)    banded, referring to vertical black-and-white stripes on sides            

Pseudoplatystoma magdaleniatum Buitrago-Suárez & Burr 2007    –atum, adjectival suffix: Magdalena River, Colombia, where it is endemic      

Pseudoplatystoma metaense Buitrago-Suárez & Burr 2007–ensis, suffix denoting place: Meta River, a tributary of the Orinoco River in Colombia and Venezuela, type locality  

Pseudoplatystoma orinocoense Buitrago-Suárez & Burr 2007    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Orinoco River, Venezuela, where it is endemic

Pseudoplatystoma punctifer (Castelnau 1855)     punctum, spot; fero, to carry or bear, described as having four large, round and dark spots just below lateral line and others on the back

Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889    referring to “coarse” reticulations on back and sides formed by narrow dark lines         

Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum (Valenciennes 1840)    tiger-like, referring to its “arrangement of colors, comparable with those of the royal tiger” (translation)              

Sorubim Cuvier 1829    latinization of Sorubi, local Brazilian name for shovelnose catfishes       

Sorubim cuspicaudus Littmann, Burr & Nass 2000    cuspis, pointed; caudus, tail, referring to pointed caudal-fin lobes        

Sorubim elongatus Littmann, Burr, Schmidt & Isern 2001    referring to extremely elongated shape of head and body    

Sorubim lima (Bloch & Schneider 1801)    file, referring to ventrally exposed premaxillary tooth patch 

Sorubim maniradii Littmann, Burr & Buitrago-Suarez 2001    mani-, many or multiple; radii, rakers, referring to high number of gill rakers (on first branchial arch) relative to congeners      

Sorubim trigonocephalus Miranda Ribeiro 1920    trigonos, triangular; cephalus, head, referring to its “subtriangular” head, “with lateral margins not parallel and not continuous to the lateral margins of the body, … somewhat similar to the head of a spear and resembling the head of a snake” (translation)        

Sorubimichthys Bleeker 1862    Sorubim, referring to previous placement of type species, S. jandia (=planiceps), in that genus; ichthys, fish  

Sorubimichthys planiceps (Spix & Agassiz 1829)    planus, flat; –ceps, head, referring to very flattened head    

Steindachneridion Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1919    –idion, a diminutive connoting endearment: in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner (1834-1919), who recognized type species S. amblyurum as Platystoma parahybae in 1877 [replacement name for Steindachneria Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888, preoccupied by Steindachneria Goode & Bean 1888 in Merlucciidae, which appeared three months earlier]             

Steindachneridion amblyurum (Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1888)    amblys, blunt; oura, tailed, referring to “broadly rounded” caudal fin        

Steindachneridion doceanum (Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1889)    –anum, belonging to: Rio Doce, Brazil, type locality                

Steindachneridion melanodermatum Garavello 2005    melanos, black; dermatus, skinned, referring to dark-brown ground color of body, unique in the genus        

Steindachneridion parahybae (Steindachner 1877)    of the rio Paraíba do Sul basin, eastern Brazil, where it is endemic  

Steindachneridion punctatum (Miranda Ribeiro 1918)    spotted, referring to small black spots on body and fins                 

Steindachneridion scriptum (Miranda Ribeiro 1918)    written, referring to black “scribbles” (translation, i.e., elongated or striated blotches) irregularly scattered on upper body                 

Zungaro Bleeker 1858    tautonymous with Pimelodus zungaro, from a local name applied to large pimelodids in the Amazon region of Peru    

Zungaro jahu (Ihering 1898)    presumably local name for this catfish along the Rio Paraná in São Paulo, Brazil   

Zungaro zungaro (Humboldt 1821)    local name applied to large pimelodids in the Amazon region of Peru, including this one            

Zungaropsis Steindachner 1908    –opsis, appearance, presumably referring to similarity to Zungaro (with which it is sometimes synonymized)        

Zungaropsis multimaculatus Steindachner 1908    multi-, many; maculatus, spotted, referring to numerous dark, round spots on head, sides and fins

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Family PSEUDOPIMELODIDAE Bumblebee Catfishes
6 genera · 55 species

Subfamily PSEUDOPIMELODINAE

Cruciglanis Ortega-Lara & Lehmann A. 2006    crucis, cross, referring to crucifix shape of second basibranchial in the branchial arch; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Cruciglanis pacifici Ortega-Lara & Lehmann A. 2006    of the Pacific, referring to its endemic distribution in coastal rivers draining western (Pacific) slope of the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia

Pseudopimelodus Bleeker 1858    pseudo-, false, referring to previous classification of most species in Pimelodus (Pimelodidae)

Pseudopimelodus atricaudus Restrepo-Gómez, Rangel-Medrano, Márquez & Ortega-Lara 2020    atri-, black; caudus, tail, referring to diagnostic black caudal fin

Pseudopimelodus bufonius (Valenciennes 1840)    toad-like, its “large head and color giving it the appearance of a brown toad” (translation)

Pseudopimelodus charus (Valenciennes 1840)    latinization of charu, local Portuguese name for this catfish in Brazil

Pseudopimelodus magnus Restrepo-Gómez, Rangel-Medrano, Márquez & Ortega-Lara 2020    great, reaching 531.7 mm SL, the largest known species of the genus

Pseudopimelodus mangurus (Valenciennes 1835)    derived from manguruyu-carape and manguruyu court, both of which are Guaraní names for this catfish in Paraguay and/or Brazil

Pseudopimelodus schultzi (Dahl 1955)    in honor of Leonard P. Schultz (1901-1986), Curator of Fishes at the U. S. National Museum

Rhyacoglanis Shibatta & Vari 2017    rhyax, torrent, referring to its rheophilic habits (strongly associated with rapids and other swift-flowing waters); glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Rhyacoglanis annulatus Shibatta & Vari 2017    ringed, referring to caudal-peduncle band with a light inner region

Rhyacoglanis epiblepsis Shibatta & Vari 2017    epi-, up; blepsis, act of sight, referring to dorsal position of eyes

Rhyacoglanis paranensis Shibatta & Vari 2017    –ensis, suffix denoting place: upper rio Paraná basin, Brazil, where it occurs

Pseudopimelodus pulcher (Boulenger 1887)    beautiful, referring to what Boulenger apparently believed was an attractive color pattern consisting of a dark brown band encircling body, white-edged dorsal and caudal fins, and two large whitish spots on tail

Rhyacoglanis rapppydanielae Shibatta, Rocha & Oliveira 2021    in honor of Brazilian ichthyologist Lúcia H. Rapp Py-Daniel, for her “outstanding” contribution to Neotropical fishes’ systematics; she is the founder and current curator of the fish collection at Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), whose “scientific importance is recognized by the national and international communities”

Rhyacoglanis seminiger Shibatta & Vari 2017    semi-, half; niger, black, referring to its dramatically contrasting light vs. dark coloration pattern

Rhyacoglanis varii Shibatta & Souza-Shibatta 2023    in honor of Richard P. Vari (1949–2016), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C., USA), for his “outstanding” contributions to the systematics of Neotropical fishes

Rhyacoglanis variolosus (Miranda Ribeiro 1914)    smallpox, referring to granulations coating the skin, said to resemble smallpox pustules

Subfamily BATROCHOGLANINAE

Batrochoglanis Gill 1858    batrachus, frog, referring to frog- or toad-like shape of all species; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish [Gill (1861) and others have “corrected” spelling to Batrachoglanis, but original spelling must stand]

Batrochoglanis acanthochiroides (Güntert 1942)    –oides, having the form of: referring to close similarity with Pseudopimelodus acanthochirus (=Batrochoglanis raninus)

Batrochoglanis castaneus Shibatta 2019    of chestnuts, referring brownish body color of analyzed specimens and to the Brazil nut, for which type locality (Igarapé do Castanhal, Aripuanã River basin, Mato Grosso, Brazil) is named

Batrochoglanis melanurus Shibatta & Pavanelli 2005    melan, black; oura, tail, referring to dark coloration of caudal fin

Batrochoglanis raninus (Valenciennes 1840)    frog-like, referring to its frog-like shape or appearance, particularly its wide mouth and head

Batrochoglanis transmontanus (Regan 1913)    trans-, over; montanus, mountains, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its occurrence in the Andean valleys of Colombia and Ecuador

Batrochoglanis villosus (Eigenmann 1912)    wooly or shaggy, referring to fine hair-like filaments over entire body, especially abundant above the pectoral fin

Lophiosilurus Steindachner 1876    lophio-, referring to striking resemblance to the chacid catfish C. lophioides (=C. chaca), both of which resemble the Monkfish, Lophius piscatorius (Lophiiformes: Lophiidae); silurus, from the Greek silouros, catfish

Lophiosilurus albomarginatus (Eigenmann 1912)albus, white; marginatus, edged or bordered, referring to white margin on anal, ventral, pectoral, and caudal fins

Lophiosilurus alexandri Steindachner 1876    in honor of Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910), Director, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, as a token of Steindachner’s admiration

Lophiosilurus apurensis (Mees 1978)    –ensis, suffix denoting place: Apure, Venezuela, where it is endemic and/or Apure River drainage, type locality

Lophiosilurus fowleri (Haseman 1911)    in honor of ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler (1878-1965), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

Lophiosilurus nigricauda (Mees 1974)    nigri-, black; caudus, tail, referring to entirely black caudal fin

Microglanis Eigenmann 1912    micro-, small, i.e., “Small Pimelodines, reaching a maximum length of 110 mm”; glanis, sheatfish (Silurus glanis), now used as a general term for catfish

Microglanis ater Ahl 1936    black, referring to ground color in alcohol and/or color of all fins

Microglanis berbixae Tobes, Falconí-López, Valdiviezo-Rivera & Provenzano 2020    in honor of María Resurección Sesma Lizari, nicknamed “Berbixe,” mother of first author, for her “unconditional support and infinite love”

Microglanis carlae Vera Alcaraz, da Graça & Shibatta 2008    in honor of Carla Simone Pavanelli, (b. 1967), curator, Center for Research in Limnology, Ichthyology and Aquaculture, Universidade Estadual de Maringá (Paraná, Brazil), for her contributions to neotropical ichthyology

Microglanis cottoides (Boulenger 1891)    –oides, having the form of: Cottus, sculpin, presumably referring to sculpin-like combination of big head and wide mouth with relatively short body

Microglanis eurystoma Malabarba & Mahler 1998    eury, wide; stoma, mouth, referring to wide mouth of adults compared to congeners

Microglanis garavelloi Shibatta & Benine 2005    in honor of Brazilian ichthyologist Julio Cesar Garavello

Microglanis iheringi Gomes 1946    in honor of Gomes’ former teacher, the late and distinguished Brazilian ichthyologist, Rodolpho von Ihering (1883-1939)

Microglanis leniceae Shibatta 2016     in honor of Shibatta’s wife, Lenice Souza-Shibatta, also an ichthyologist, for her dedication to the study of the biogeography and evolution of neotropical fishes

Microglanis leptostriatus Mori & Shibatta 2006    leptos, slender; striatus, striped, referring to “thin and sinuous” but distinct light transverse stripe in nuchal region

Microglanis lundbergi Jarduli & Shibatta 2013    in honor of ichthyologist John G. Lundberg (b. 1942), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, coordinator of the Calhamazon project, who provided specimens of this species, and for his great contributions to the systematics of neotropical catfishes

Microglanis maculatus Shibatta 2014    spotted, referring to dark brown spots on trunk

Microglanis malabarbai Bertaco & Cardoso 2005    in honor of Luis Roberto Malabarba, for his “active” contribution to the knowledge of neotropical fishes

Microglanis minutus Ottoni, Mattos & Barbosa 2010    small, referring to its size compared to congeners (up to 29.7 mm SL)

Microglanis nigrolineatus Terán, Jarduli, Alonso, Mirande & Shibatta 2016    nigro-, black; lineatus, lined, referring to dark stripes running along trunk

Microglanis nigripinnis Bizerril & Perez-Neto 1992    niger, black; pinna, fin, referring to dark-pigmented fins

Microglanis oliveirai Ruiz & Shibatta 2011    in honor of Claudio de Oliveira (Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho,” campus Botucatu), for in his extensive contribution to the knowledge of neotropical fish evolution

Microglanis parahybae (Steindachner 1880)    of the Rio Parahyba, or Paraíba do Sul, Brazil, type localty (also occurs in Argentina)

Microglanis pataxo Sarmento-Soares, Martins-Pinheiro, Aranda & Chamon 2006    named for the Pataxó indigenous people of northeastern Brazil, who live in the areas where this catfish occurs

Microglanis pellopterygius Mees 1978    pellos, dusky; pterygius, finned, referring to broad brown bands on all fins

Microglanis pleriqueater Mattos, Ottoni & Barbosa 2013    plerique, mostly; ater, black, referring to “almost black or dark brown” body and dorsal fin

Microglanis poecilus Eigenmann 1912     varicolored, with three light wavy cross-bands, one over the nape, one behind dorsal, and one across caudal peduncle (much like the pattern of a bumblebee, hence the vernacular name for the family)

Microglanis reikoae Ruiz 2016    in memory of Ruiz’ grandmother Reiko Sugizaki Matsushima, “in deep appreciation for the wonderful person she was”

Microglanis robustus Ruiz & Shibatta 2010    strong, referring to “truncated body and high caudal peduncle, giving a strong format to this catfish”

Microglanis secundus Mees 1974    following or second, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to how its is similar to and “likely to be found together” with M. poecilus

Microglanis sparsus Ruiz 2016    sprayed, referring to its mottled color pattern

Microglanis variegatus Eigenmann & Henn 1914    referring to variegated color pattern of adults

Microglanis xerente Ruiz 2016    named for the Xerente ethnic group, the native indigenous people who live along the rio Tocantins basin (Tocantins, Brazil), where this catfish occurs

Microglanis xylographicus Ruiz & Shibatta 2011    xylos, wood; graphicus, of writing, referring to horizontally striated color pattern, like a tree bark

Microglanis zonatus Eigenmann & Allen 1942    banded, referring to five bars or bands across body