Family Prochilodontidae - Flannel-mouth characiforms
Order : Characiformes Prochilodontidae
Class : Teleostei
No. in FishBase : Genera : 3 | Species : 21 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : Yes | Brackish : Yes | Marine : No
Division : Primary freshwater
Aquarium :
First Fossil Record :      
Remark : Members of the family Prochilodontidae can be readily distinguished from other fishes, except when larvae, by their fleshy lips equipped with two series of numerous, relatively small, falciform or spatulate teeth movably attached to the lips. Upon protraction these lips form an oral disk encircled by teeth. The two tooth rows in each jaw are variably separated from each other proximate to the symphysis, but converge towards the lateral margins of each jaw. The members of this family are moderate to large sized, robust fishes (reaching up to 74 cm TL in Prochilodus lineatus, Sverlij et al., 1993:36) with relatively large scales, fleshy to very fleshy lips (particularly in Ichthyoelephas), and pronounced stripes across the anal and caudal fins in Semaprochilodus species, other than for very large individuals. The dorsal fin is preceded by a procumbent spine which is either bifurcate (Prochilodus and Semaprochilodus) or pointed (Ichthyoelephas) anteriorly. Although the three genera are readily distinguished externally, the external morphology of most species in each genus is relatively constant and many species can be difficult to tell apart. The species of this family are limited to South America and occur to the west of the Andes in the Lago Maracaibo basin of Colombia and Venezuela, the Carribean versant rivers of northwestern Colombia and the Pacific slope rivers of northwestern and southwestern Ecuador. East of the Andes, prochilodontids occur in the Río Orinoco, Rio Amazon, Rio Tocantins, and Río de La Plata basins, the coastal rivers of the Guianas, the Rio São Francisco and the other coastal rivers of eastern Brazil, and the northern portions of the Lagoa dos Patos basin of southern Brazil. They inhabit a diversity of habitats ranging from still ox-bow lakes, through flowing major rivers, to moderately rapid streams in piedmont regions and occur in black, clear, and white water. All species of this family exploit detritus and aufwucks (periphyton) on subaquatic surfaces (Araújo-Lima et al., 1986; Bowen, 1984; Bowen et al., 1984). The prevalence of these resources both in permanent fresh waters (Flecker, 1996:1845) and the seasonally flooded rain forest (Goulding et al., 1988:61-62, fig. 6.1) most probably accounts for the prominence of these species in Neotropical freshwaters (e.g., lower Río Parana basin where Prochilodus lineatus accounts for over 60% of total ichthyomass; Bonetto, 1975, 1994). As a consequence of their detritus feeding habits and large populations, these species play a significant role in energy flow within the aquatic systems which they inhabit (Jepsen et al., 1997:1085; Winemiller, 1996:303) and are functionally dominant in some aquatic ecosystems (Flecker, 1996:1850). Species of the Prochilodontidae undertake dramatic mass migrations associated with feeding and reproduction (Goulding, 1981:100-104; Ribeiro and Petrere, 1990:200), with some individuals traveling minimally nearly 1500 km between their mark and recapture (Sverlij et al., 1993:28) with daily movements of up to 43 km (de Godoy, 1975:43). These species are famous for their ability to overcome obstacles encountered during migrations by strenuous swimming and dramatic leaps of several meters (Goulding, 1981:103; Patiño R, 1973:81). The species-level taxonomy of the Prochilodontidae has long been pervaded by uncertainty (Mago-Leccia, 1972:35) as a consequence of various factors intrinsic (overall similarity of different species) and extrinsic (e.g., uninformative original descriptions and loss of type series) to the species. Mago-Leccia (1972) reviewed the prochilodontid species that occur in Venezuela. Subsequently, Castro (1988, 1993) described two previously undescribed species. The taxonomy of all species of the Prochilodontidae was evaluated in an unpublished thesis (Castro, 1990) and in a ongoing revisionary and phylogenetic analysis (Castro and Vari, in prep.). The entries for the species in the following account are derived from the information in those two studies. Based on our results we expect that future research is unlikely to reveal many additional undescribed species in the family. Members of the all genera of the Prochilodontidae are very important in both commercial and subsistence fishes across the range of the family. In the lower Rio Negro of Brazil, over 90 percent of the commercial catch consists of two Semaprochilodus species (Goulding et al., 1988:61) and prochilodontids are becoming progressively more important in the commercial fishes of the central portion of the Amazon basin (Ribeiro and Petrere, 1990:196). Sverlij et al. (1993:51) report that Prochilodus lineatus constitutes 40% of the total fishery in the Río Paraná, 86% of the fishery in the Río de La Plata, and 95% of the fishery in the Río Uruguay. Other prochilodontid species are similarly important in the commercial and subsistence fisheries of Colombia (Dahl, 1971:xvi, Sánchez, M. et al., 2000:218), Venezuela (Espinosa and Gimenez, 1974:1: Novoa R. et al., 1982:277), and other countries (Welcomme, 1979:200). The importance of the Prochilodontidae in commercial and subsistence fisheries across the range of the family is also reflected in the numerous studies involving the induced spawning and captive rearing of members of the family (e.g., Antoniutti et al., 1995; Bustamente-Varón et al, 1997; and references therein). Common name for this family encoded from Ref. 58010.
Etymology : Greek, pro = before, in front of + Greek, cheilos = lip + Greek, odous = teeth ( Ref. 45335).
Reproductive guild : guarders
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : Castro, R.M.C. and R.P. Vari 2050
Coordinator :
Deep Fin Classification : Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Actinopteri | Neopterygii | Teleostei | Osteoglossocephalai | Clupeocephala | Otomorpha | Ostariophysi | | Otophysa | | | | | | Characiphysae | Characiformes | Characoidei | | Prochilodontidae
Show species images | Show valid names | Nominal species list | CAS specimen photos | References
Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Prochilodontidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

Show all | Show only accepted name | Show only accepted and original names
Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Prochilodus argenteus Spix & Agassiz, 1829
acceptedseniororiginal
Salmo marggravii Walbaum, 1792
ambiguousotheroriginal
Prochilodus marggravii (Walbaum, 1792)
ambiguousothernew
Prochilodus nigricans Spix & Agassiz, 1829
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus cephalotes Cope, 1878
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus ortonianus Cope, 1878
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus caudifasciatus Starks, 1906
synonymjuniororiginal
Curimatus tigris Fowler, 1913
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus tigris (Fowler, 1913)
synonymjuniornew
Prochilodus beni Pearson, 1924
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus labeo Loubens, Lauzanne & Géry, 1991
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1837)
acceptedseniornew
Paca lineatus Valenciennes, 1837
synonymseniororiginal
Prochilodus scrofa Steindachner, 1881
synonymjuniororiginal
! Prochilodus scrofu Steindachner, 1881
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus platensis Holmberg, 1891
synonymjuniororiginal
Salmo novemradiatus Larrañaga, 1923
synonymjuniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus maripicru Eigenmann, 1912
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus costatus Valenciennes, 1850
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus affinis Lütken, 1875
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus reticulatus Valenciennes, 1850
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus reticulatus reticulatus Valenciennes, 1850
synonymseniorchange in rank
Prochilodus asper Lütken, 1875
synonymjuniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Salmo corimbata Natterer, 1859
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus corimbata (Natterer, 1859)
synonymjuniornew
Prochilodus oligolepis Günther, 1864
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus steindachneri Fowler, 1906
synonymjuniororiginal
Steindachnerina steindachneri (Fowler, 1906)
synonymjuniornew
Prochilodus brevis Steindachner, 1875
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus cearaensis Steindachner, 1911
synonymjuniororiginal
! Prochilodus cearensis Steindachner, 1911
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus harttii Steindachner, 1875
acceptedseniororiginal
! Prochilodus hartii Steindachner, 1875
synonymseniororiginal
Prochilodus magdalenae Steindachner, 1879
acceptedseniorchange in rank
Prochilodus asper magdalenae Steindachner, 1879
synonymseniororiginal
Prochilodus reticulatus magdalenae Steindachner, 1879
synonymseniorchange in species
Prochilodus beani Eigenmann, 1907
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus steindachneri Eigenmann, 1922
ambiguoushomonymoriginal
Prochilodus eigenmanni Ahl, 1937
synonymjuniororiginal
Prochilodus lacustris Steindachner, 1907
acceptedseniororiginal
Prochilodus mariae Eigenmann, 1922
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Ichthyoelephas longirostris (Steindachner, 1879)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus longirostris Steindachner, 1879
synonymseniororiginal
Ichthyoelephas patalo Posada, 1909
synonymjuniororiginal
Ichthyoelephas humeralis (Günther, 1860)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus humeralis Günther, 1860
synonymseniororiginal
Semaprochilodus brama (Valenciennes, 1850)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus brama Valenciennes, 1850
synonymseniororiginal
Semaprochilodus squamilentus Fowler, 1941
synonymjuniororiginal
Semaprochilodus taeniurus (Valenciennes, 1821)
acceptedseniornew
Curimatus taeniurus Valenciennes, 1821
synonymseniororiginal
Prochilodus taeniurus (Valenciennes, 1821)
synonymseniornew
! Semaprochilodus taenirus (Valenciennes, 1821)
synonymseniornew
! Semiprochilodus taeniurus (Valenciennes, 1821)
synonymseniornew
Semaprochilodus insignis (Jardine, 1841)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus insignis Jardine, 1841
synonymseniororiginal
Prochilodus theraponura Fowler, 1906
synonymjuniororiginal
Semaprochilodus theraponura (Fowler, 1906)
synonymjuniornew
! Semiprochilodus theraponura (Fowler, 1906)
synonymjuniornew
Prochilodus amazonensis Fowler, 1906
synonymjuniororiginal
Semaprochilodus amazonensis (Fowler, 1906)
synonymjuniornew
! Semiprochilodus amazonensis (Fowler, 1906)
synonymjuniornew
Semaprochilodus laticeps (Steindachner, 1879)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus laticeps Steindachner, 1879
synonymseniororiginal
Semaprochilodus kneri (Pellegrin, 1909)
acceptedseniornew
Prochilodus kneri Pellegrin, 1909
synonymseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
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