Megalancistrus parananus (Peters, 1881)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Megalancistrus parananus is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Loricariidae, the suckermouth armoured catfishes, and the subfamily Hypostominae, the suckermouth catfishes. This catfish is found in South America where it occurs in the drainages of the Paraguay, Paraná and Uruguay in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This species reaches a standard length of 58.8 cm (23.1 in). M. parananus was first formally described as Pterygoplichthys (Ancistrus) parananus in 1881 ny the German naturalist and explorer Wilhelm Peters with its type locality given as the Paraná River at La Paz, Entre Rios in Argentina. In 1895 George Albert Boulenger described Chaetostomas gigas from Paraguay and in 1980 Isaäc J. H. Isbrücker proposed the new genus Megalancistrus, designating C. gigas as its type species. In 2001 Isbrücker reclassified C. gigas as a synonym of Megalancistrus parananus.
Wikipedia contributors, Megalancistrus parananus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:09:18.483181+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Megalancistrus parananus (Peters, 1881)
- Name authority
- (Peters, 1881)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Loricariidae
- Genus
- Megalancistrus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familyLoricariidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyHypostominae Kner, 1853
- tribeAcanthicini Bleeker, 1862-1863
- genusMegalancistrus Isbrücker, 1980
- speciesMegalancistrus parananus (Peters, 1881)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Megalancistrus gigas (Boulenger, 1895) (Boulenger, 1895) | synonym |
| Pterygoplichthys parananus Peters, 1881 Peters, 1881 | synonym |
| Chaetostomus gigas Boulenger, 1895 Boulenger, 1895 | synonym |
| Chaetostomus aculeatus Perugia, 1891 Perugia, 1891 | synonym |
| Megalancistrus aculeatus (Perugia, 1891) (Perugia, 1891) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1019973 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3YTV3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.