Scleronema (fish)

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Scleronema
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Trichomycteridae
Subfamily: Trichomycterinae
Genus: Scleronema
C. H. Eigenmann, 1917 [1]
Type species
Scleronema operculatum
C. H. Eigenmann, 1917 [1]
Synonyms [1]

Scleronema is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Trichomycteridae, the pencil and parasitic catfishes, these catfishes are found in South America. They are a member of the subfamily Trichomycterinae. [2] Species of Scleronema are geographically distributed in the La Plata basin and Atlantic coastal drainages from Southern Brazil, Southern Paraguay, Northeastern Argentina and Uruguay. They inhabit rivers or streams with sand or gravel-bottoms across the Pampa grasslands. [3] In Greek, Scleronema means "hard thread". [4] >

Contents

Species

There are currently ten recognized species in this genus: [5]

S. minutum and S. operculatum both originate from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; S. minutum4.0 cm (1.6 in) SL and S. operculatum8.0 cm (3.1 in). [6] [7] S. minutum and S. operculatum usually live in a freshwater, tropical environment. [6] [7] S. operculatum are harmless to humans. [7]

Scleronema minutum

As of 2017, S. minutum, under its synonym S. angustirostris, has been deemed a prohibited nonnative species in Florida, meaning the species is a danger to the ecology, health, and/or welfare of Florida and its residents. Like other species of Scleronema, S. minutum thrive in a freshwater environment and are benthopelagic, meaning that they either live at the surface or bottom of a body of water. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Trichomycterinae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "Scleronema". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  3. ↑ Ferrer, Juliano; Malabarba, Luiz R. (2020). "Systematic revision of the Neotropical catfish genus Scleronema (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae), with descriptions of six new species from Pampa grasslands". Neotropical Ichthyology. 18 (2): e190081. doi: 10.1590/1982-0224-2019-0081 . hdl: 10183/248278 .
  4. ↑ Christopher Scharpf (25 September 2025). "Family TRICHOMYCTERIDAE Bleeker 1858 (Pencil and Parasitic Catfishes)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  5. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Scleronema". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  6. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Scleronema minutum". FishBase . July 2007 version.
  7. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Scleronema operculatum". FishBase . July 2007 version.
  8. ↑ "Scleronema angustirostre (a catfish, no common name)" (PDF). Ecological Risk Screening Summary. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2018-07-02 [January 2017]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2020-06-25.


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