| This is a family of the Order Siluriformes
is represented by about one genus and 56 species of freshwater fishes found in the Andean
region (South America) and Panama. Astroblepids have two pairs of barbels. They
are characterized by their naked body and the presence of a mouth disc which
allows some of them to climb the faces of waterfalls of torrental mountain
streams. They also have maxillary and nasal barbels (Nelson 1994).
They are nocturnal. These could
be considered preadapted characters. |
|
There are two hypogean species within the
genus Astroblepus:
Astroblepus pholeter Collette, 1962
and Astroblepus riberae Cardona & Guerao, 1994. The vague reference to the Colombian Astroblepus
cyclopus (originally described as Pimelodus cyclopum) by
Alexander von Humboldt
(1805) as a cave fish cannot be substantiated (Romero & Paulson 2001). |