Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Aspredinidae (Banjo catfishes) > Aspredininae
Etymology: Xyliphius: Greek, xylephion, xylarion = a little piece of wood (Ref. 45335); sofiae: Named for the daughter of first author on the specific epithet, for inspiring wisdom in her father..
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; demersal. Tropical
South America: Amazon River in Peru.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 4.4 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 116022)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 4; Anal soft rays: 9. Xyliphius sofiae can be diagnosed from all its congeners by four autapomorphies: absence of eyes (vs. presence, though reduced); color pale, lack of pigment (vs. head and body darkly pigmented); 5 branchiostegal rays (vs. 4); and unculiferous tubercles on posterior body evenly distributed (vs. enlarged unculiferous tubercles typically arranged in five distinct rows from above pelvic-fin base to posterior end of caudal peduncle). It further differs by having one ossified proximal radial in the pectoral fin (vs. two in congeners, except X. magdalenae, not examined). It can be distinguished from all congeners except X. lepturusby having the snout tip elongated and narrowly rounded (vs. short and broadly rounded, often with small median notch), fifth ceratobranchial relatively narrow with two or three irregular rows of acicular teeth (vs. broadly expanded with larger conical teeth), anterior limits of the branchial apertures separated by a distance smaller than length of aperture (vs. greater than length of aperture), anal-fin rays modally nine (vs. seven), and lateral line extending onto base of caudal-fin rays (vs. finishing in hypural region) (Ref. 116022).
Inhabits river. Caught with a large floating net stretched between two canoes and dragged downstream through the water column (Ref. 116022).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Carvalho, T.P., R.E. Reis and M.H. Sabaj, 2017. Description of a new blind and rare species of Xyliphius (Siluriformes: Aspredinidae) from the Amazon basin using high-resolution computed tomography. Copeia 105(2):14-28. (Ref. 116022)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5078 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00324 (0.00134 - 0.00780), b=3.03 (2.83 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.1 ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).