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Paravandellia is a genus of pencil catfishes native to South America.

Paravandellia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Trichomycteridae
Subfamily:	Vandelliinae
Genus:	Paravandellia Miranda-Ribeiro, 1912
Type species
Paravandellia oxyptera Miranda Ribeiro, 1912
Synonyms
Of Paravandellia Branchioica Eigenmann, 1918 Pleurophysus Miranda Ribeiro, 1918 Parabranchioica Devincenzi & Vaz-Ferreira, 1939 Of P. oxyptera Branchioica bertoni Eigenmann, 1918 Pleurophysus hydrostaticus Miranda Ribeiro, 1918 Vandellia hematophaga Guimarães, 1935 Parabranchioica teaguei Devincenzi & Vaz-Ferreira, 1939 Of P. phaneronema Branchioica phaneronema Miles, 1943 Branchioica magdalenae Miles, 1943

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[1]

• Paravandellia oxyptera Miranda-Ribeiro, 1912 (Pantanal parasitic catfish)
• Paravandellia phaneronema (Miles, 1943)

Distribution

P. oxyptera is distributed in the Paraná, Paraguay, and Uruguay River basins in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.[2] P. phaneronema originates from the Magdalena and Cauca River basins of Colombia.[2]

Description

Paravandellia species grow to about 2.5–2.8 centimetres (0.98–1.10 inches) in length.[3][4] Females have been found at 1.8 cm (0.71 in) TL in January (during the wet season) with about 150 mature oocytes each, and males may have well-developed testes at 2.0 cm (0.79 in) TL.[3]

Habitat & Habits

P. oxyptera inhabits rivers with sandy to muddy bottom. This species is a parasite. It forages both during the day and at night, seeking the gill chambers of larger fishes, especially catfishes. It enters and leaves the gill chamber during the host's ventilating movements. There, it feeds on blood drawn from the gill filaments and may stay in the gill chamber for 1–3 min. When gorged with blood, the fish moves to the bottom and buries itself in the sand.[3] A single large catfish tethered on the river bank may feed thousand of these parasitic catfish over a period of up to 6 hours. Large numbers of this fish may kill fishes tethered by fishermen.[3]

References

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