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he last monthly factsheet of the year (2016) brings us to one of the least kept catfish families, Trichomycteridae, which contains most of the parasitic catfishes and although the vast majority are small they can be nasty but none the less they are very interesting in their own right.

Pseudostegophilus maculatus

Parastegophilus maculatus in its natural habitat enters the gill chambers of large catfish such as Luciopimelodus pati and feeds on the gills. There is a patch of about seven thorn-like opercular spines and another patch of approximately nine interopercular spines. These are erectile, and by first erecting these on one side and then those on the opposite side, the fish is able to inch its way forward into narrow openings. The sub-family Stegophilinae have sucking mouths with which they can hang on to the bodies of other fishes.

Spotted parasitic catfish

Homodiaetus maculatus, Stegophilus maculatus, Parastegophilus maculatus.

Stegophilinae

South America: Lower Paraná and Uruguay River basins, Argentina. Type locality: La Plata, Prov. of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

6.0cm. (2½ins)

16-26°c (59-79°f.)

6.0-7.0.

Head depressed, body loach-like. Dorsal fin placed posteriorly. Anal fin behind dorsal fin, ventral fin slightly in advance of dorsal fin. None of the fin rays are modified into spines. Maxillary barbels small, minute labial barble present under maxillary barbel. Copious covering of mucus over entire body.

Body olive on upper half, lighter below. A series of black spots along middle of sides, plus a number of smaller spots above. Large black blotch at base of caudal fin. Upper and lower lobes of caudal fin black. Base of dorsal fin dark, remainder of fin olive.

Not recommended for the home aquaria with other fish but if kept would do better on its own with its own kind. 

Not documented. 

Not recorded

Difficult to feed with aquarium made foods as this is a species that feeds of fish, scales and body mucus so certainly a catfish for the specialist. 

Pseudostegophilus: From the Greek pseudes, meaning false, stego, meaning cover and philein, meaning to like; in reference to the resemblance to Stegophilus ("lover of cover", in reference to the secretive nature), another trichomycterid genus.
maculatus: Spotted.

Catfish Association Great Britain. Volume1. 1983.
de Pínna, M.C.C. and W. Wosiacki, 2003. Trichomycteridae (pencil or parasitic catfishes). p. 270-290. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
DoNascimiento, C. (2015): Morphological evidence for the monophyly of the subfamily of parasitic catfishes Stegophilinae (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae) and phylogenetic diagnoses of its genera. Copeia 103 (4): 933–960.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2006. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (02/2006).
www.pecescriollos.de

Photo Credits

© Steve Pritchard (From the publication; Catfishes of The World by David Sands vol.5 Bagridae and others p. 30).