Centromochlus

Centromochlus
Centromochlus schultzi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Auchenipteridae
Subfamily:	Centromochlinae
Genus:	Centromochlus Kner, 1858
Type species
Centromochlus megalops Kner, 1858

Centromochlus is a genus of fish in the family Auchenipteridae native to South America.

Species

There are currently 9 recognized species in this genus: ^[1]

• Centromochlus akwae Coelho, Chamon & Sarmento-Soares, 2021
• Centromochlus carolae (Vari & Ferraris, 2013) ^[2]
• Centromochlus existimatus Mees, 1974
• Centromochlus heckelii (De Filippi, 1853)
• Centromochlus macracanthus Soares-Porto, 2000
• Centromochlus melanoleucus (Vari & Calegari, 2014) ^[3]
• Centromochlus musaicus (Royero-L., 1992) ^[3]
• Centromochlus orca Sarmento-Soares, Lazzarotto, Rapp Py-Daniel & Leitão, 2016 ^[4]
• Centromochlus schultzi Rössel, 1962

In addition to the described species, an undescribed species of Centromochlus that closely resembles Centromochlus orca is often sold in the tropical fish hobby. This undescribed form is known as Ninja tatia or Ninja woodcat. This "Tatia" fish has some white spots on the upper black-colored body and more white on the tail fin, compared to Centromochlus musaicus. ^[5]

References

1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Centromochlus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 29 October 2025.
2. Vari, R.P.; Ferraris Jr., C.J. (2013). "Two New Species of the Catfish Genus Tatia (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the Guiana Shield and a Reevaluation of the Limits of the Genus". Copeia. 2013 (3): 396–402. doi:10.1643/CI-12-115.
3. Vari, R.P. & Calegari, B.B. (2014). "New species of the catfish genus Tatia (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the rio Teles Pires, upper rio Tapajós basin, Brazil" (PDF). Neotropical Ichthyology. 12 (4): 667–674. doi: 10.1590/1982-0224-20130193 .
4. Sarmento-Soares, L.M.; Lazzarotto, H.; Rapp Py-Daniel, L.; Leitão, R.P. (2016). "A new Centromochlus Kner, 1858 (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae: Centromochlinae) from the transition between Amazon floodplain and Guiana shield, Brazil" (PDF). Neotropical Ichthyology. 14 (4) e160030. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20160030.
5. Frank Schäfer (22 January 2016). "Tatia musaica (= Cenromochlus[sic] orca)". AquariumGlaser. Retrieved 29 October 2025.