Ichthyoelephas
Genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ichthyoelephas is a genus of South American freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Prochilodontidae, the bocachicos or flannel-mouthed characiformes.[2]
| Ichthyoelephas | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ichthyoelephas longirostris | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Characiformes |
| Family: | Prochilodontidae |
| Genus: | Ichthyoelephas Posada, 1909[1] |
| Type species | |
| Ichthyoelephas patalo, (a synonym of Ichthyoelephas longirostris) Posada, 1909[1] | |
There are two species in the genus: I. humeralis reaches a length of at least 40 cm (1.3 ft) and is found in the Santiago and Guayas river basins in Ecuador,[3] and I. longirostris reaches a length of 80 cm (2.6 ft) and is found in the Cauca–Magdalena river basin in Colombia.[4]
They feed on algae and detritus that are taken off rocks with their fleshy lips.[5][6] They are commercially important food fish.[5][6]
Species
There are two species:[7]
- Ichthyoelephas humeralis (Günther, 1860)
- Ichthyoelephas longirostris (Steindachner, 1879)
