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Astroblepus

Genus of fishes

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated July 27, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Astroblepus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Astroblepidae, the climbing catfishes or naked sucker-mouth catfishes. This genus is the only genus in its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems. These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in). The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft). These fish have suckermouths like those of loricariids. They have two pairs of barbels, maxillary and nasal. The dorsal fin spine lacks a locking mechanism. These fish also have odontodes, tiny teeth on their skin. All species exhibit a conical, pointy type on their fin rays like that found in other loricarioids; other species also exhibit a blunt type that is only found on their skin.

Some of these fish are able to live in high altitude and climb the faces of waterfalls. Their climbing ability comes from specially developed pelvic fins, as well as their suckermouths. In their Neotropical Andean habitat, dry and wet seasons are quite extreme, and odontodes may help in sensing food, mates and water flow, as well as help cling to surfaces. They feed upon invertebrates, such as caterpillars and annelids.

The Astroblepidae were usually placed within Siluriformes as the sister family of Loricariidae, but a recent study found them to be more closely related to the family Scoloplacidae.

01Species

Astroblepus contains the following valid species:

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Astroblepus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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