Amphilius

Abstract: Species of the genus Amphilius are small benthic catfishes that occur throughout tropical Africa and are abundant in the mountain streams of the Fouta Djalon region in Guinea, West Africa During a 2003 expedition to the area, numerous amphiliid catfish were collected and initial observations revealed a large amount of morphological variation across the sampled basins These specimens were subjected to a geometric morphometric analysis and standard morphometric analysis Cytochrome b gene sequences were also obtained and compared among populations These analyses resulted in the discovery of multiple cryptic taxa within two recognized species, Amphilius platychir and Amphilius rheophilus The discovery of these taxa is compared with other recent discoveries from the area

Abstract: The freshwater African catfish family Amphiliidae had been reviewed based on the 73 osteological characters with Diplomystidae, dagger Hypsidoridae, Amblycipitidae, Sisoridae, and Bagridae as out-groups. Because the family position of Leptoglanis (Bagridae/Amphiliidae) is under debate, this genus has been taken as an out-group too. Results of the study indicate that: 1) the Amphiliidae is not a monophyletic group and must now be restricted to the genera Amphilius and Paramphilius; the two subfamilies Amphiliinae and Doumeinae are separated by the sisorids Euchiloglanis (with most of the glyptosternid fishes) and Glyptothorax (with most of the non-glyptosternid fishes); 2) no synapomorphies were found for the subfamily Amphiliinae. 3) The five genera of subfamily Doumeinae constitute a monophyletic group, Andersonia being the sister-group of the four other genera; subfamily Doumeinae + Leptoglanis form the family Doumeidae. The glyptosternids no longer belong to the Sisoridae (family restricted to the non-glyptosternids) and represent the new family Glyptosternidae. (C) 1999 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.

Abstract: A recent review of the amphiliid fishes of West Central Africa (WCA) indicates the presence of several described and undescribed species in different genera. Known amphiliines include three species of Amphilius Gunther, one species of Paramphilius Pellegrin and three doumeine species in two genera, Doumea Sauvage and Phractura Boulenger. The known Amphilius from the WCA include A. longirostris (Boulenger, 1901), A. pulcher Pellegrin, 1929, and A. nigricaudatus Pellegrin, 1909. Seven species new to science include Amphilius dimonikensis, a small species with a banded colour pattern, described from 6 specimens from the Kouilou River system in Congo; Amphilius caudosignatus, a very small species with a unique caudal fin coloration, described from 3 specimens from the Ogowe River system in Gabon; Amphilius korupi, a dark brown species with a short head, eyes advanced and long oral barbels, described from 43 specimens taken from the Cross, Ndian and Akpa-Yafe River systems in Cameroon; Amphilius mamonekenensis, distinguished by its light spotted appearance, described from 18 specimens taken from the Kouilou River system in Congo; Doumea gracila, a large robust species but with a relatively slender caudal peduncle, described from 44 specimens from the Lobe, and Lokoundje rivers, Cameroon; Doumea sanaga, with the dorsal fin relatively far back and a long slender caudal peduncle, described from 32 specimens taken from the Sanaga River system, Cameroon; and Phractura stiassny, described from a single specimen with a unique pair of neural spines before the dorsal fin from the Nyanga River in Gabon. In addition Amphilius baudoni Pellegrin is assigned to Paramphilius, with Paramphilius goodi Harry, 1953, considered as a junior synonym. Distribution maps for the new species are given.