Akysidae
| Stream catfishes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Superfamily: | Sisoroidea |
| Family: |
Akysidae Gill, 1861 |
| Genera | |
|
Subfamily Akysinae |
|
Subfamily Akysinae
Akysis
Pseudobagarius
Subfamily Parakysinae
Acrochordonichthys
Breitensteinia
Parakysis
The stream catfishes comprise the family Akysidae of catfishes.
Akysids are known from across a large area in Southeast Asia. They are found in fresh water. Fish of the subfamily Parakysinae are primarily found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Sarawak, and western and southern Borneo. Most species are generally found in deeper parts of relatively swift rivers and forest streams.
It includes at least 57 species in five genera; many species are only recently described. The family is divided into two subfamilies, Akysinae and Parakysinae. The Parakysinae had previously been listed as an independent family.
This family is sister to a clade formed by Sisoridae, Erethistidae, and Aspredinidae.
Akysids are small to minute fishes with cryptic colouration, tiny eyes, and completely covered with unculiferous plaques or tubercles. In some genera, some of the tubercles on the body are enlarged and arranged in distinctive longitudinal rows, the number of which may be diagnostic. The dorsal fin has a strong spine and a short base, and usually four or five soft rays and four pairs of barbels are found. Unusually among catfish, they have a low principal caudal fin ray count and more rays in the upper caudal fin lobe than the lower.
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Wikipedia