Paravandellia

Taxobox
name = "Paravandellia"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Siluriformes
familia = Trichomycteridae
subfamilia = Vandelliinae
genus = "Paravandellia"
genus_authority = Miranda Ribeiro, 1912
type_species = "Paravandellia oxyptera"
type_species_authority = Miranda Ribeiro, 1912
subdivision_ranks = Binomial name
subdivision =
"Paravandellia oxyptera"
Miranda Ribeiro, 1912
"Paravandellia phaneronema"
(Miles, 1943)


synonyms = Of "Paravandellia"
*"Branchioica"
Eigenmann, 1918
*"Pleurophysus"
Miranda Ribeiro, 1918
*"Parabranchioica"
Devincenzi & Vaz-Ferreira, 1939
Of "P. oxyptera"
*"Branchioica bertoni"
Eigenmann, 1918
*"Pleurophysus hydrostaticus"
Miranda Ribeiro, 1918
*"Vandellia hematophaga"
Guimarães, 1935
*"Parabranchioica teaguei"
Devincenzi & Vaz-Ferreira, 1939
Of "P. phaneronema"
*"Branchioica phaneronema"
Miles, 1943
*"Branchioica magdalenae"
Miles, 1943

"Paravandellia" is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Trichomycteridae. It includes two species, "P. oxyptera" and "P. phaneronema".cite journal|url=http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/library/biblios/2007_Ferraris_Catfish_Checklist.pdf|title=Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types|first=Carl J., Jr.|last=Ferraris|journal=Zootaxa|volume=1418|pages=1–628|year=2007|format=PDF]

"P. oxyptera" is distributed in the Paraná, Paraguay, and Uruguay River basins in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. "P. phaneronema" originates from the Magdalena and Cauca River basins of Colombia.

"Paravandellia" species grow to about 2.5–2.8 centimetres (.98–1.1 in) in length.FishBase species|genus=Paravandellia|species=oxyptera|year=2007|month=July] FishBase species|genus=Paravandellia|species=phaneronema|year=2007|month=July] Females have been found at 1.8 cm (.71 in) TL in in January (during the wet season) with about 150 mature oocytes each, and males may have well-developed testes at 2.0 cm (.79 in) TL.

"P. oxyptera" inhabits rivers with sandy to muddy bottom. This species is a parasite. It forages both during the day and at night, seeking the gill chambers of larger fishes, especially catfishes. It enters and leaves the gill chamber during the host's ventilating movements. There, it feeds on blood drawn from the gill filaments and may stay in the gill chamber for 1–3 min. When gorged with blood, the fish moves to the bottom and buries itself in the sand. A single large catfish tethered on the river bank may feed thousand of these parasitic catfish over a period of up to 6 hours. Large numbers of this fish may kill fishes tethered by fishermen.

References