Auchenipteridae, Bleeker, 1862

Júnior, Horácio Ferreira Júlio, Tós, Claudenice Dei, Agostinho, Ângelo Antonio & Pavanelli, Carla Simone, 2009, A massive invasion of fish species after eliminating a natural barrier in the upper rio Paraná basin, Neotropical Ichthyology 7 (4), pp. 709-718 : 713

Auchenipteridae

There are six auchenipterid species inhabiting the upper rio Paraná, distributed in the genera Ageneiosus , Auchenipterus , and Trachelyopterus . Two Ageneiosus species colonized the upper Paraná after the Itaipu impoundment: A. inermis (formerly called A. brevifilis ) and A. ucayalensis . The only Ageneiosus species native to the upper rio Paraná is Ageneiosus militaris (formerly called A. valenciennesi ), which is widespread in the whole rio Paraná basin. Species of this genus recently had their names changed following Ferraris Jr. (2003). Misunderstandings regarding their native geographical distributions were noted since Ferraris Jr. (2003) and Langeani et al. (2007) stated that A. ucayalensis was in the upper rio Paraná before Itaipu’s closure. Older checklists, such as Britski (1972) and Walsh (1990), recorded only A. militaris in this ecoregion, and Graça & Pavanelli (2007) agree with the present work in stating that A. inermis and A. ucayalensis dispersed only after the Sete Quedas Falls barrier was eliminated. Auchenipterus was also revised by Ferraris & Vari (1999), who mentioned that the single representative species in the upper Paraná, A. osteomystax , apparently colonized that region after the barrier elimination. Trachelyopterus was recently revised by Akama (2004) and later by Ferraris (2007). Two species of this genus currently occur in the upper rio Paraná basin: Trachelyopterus galeatus and Trachelyopterus sp. The latter is consensually native to the upper rio Paraná, in addition to almost all other Neotropical basins. The former, conversely, was not present in the upper Paraná before the impoundment. On the other hand, Langeani et al. (2007) recorded both species as native to the upper rio Paraná basin. All auchenipterid species successfully colonized the Itaipu Reservoir just after the closure of the dam, except Trachelyopterus sp. ( Agostinho et al., 1994).