Ituglanis is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

es (order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Siluriformes) of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Trichomycteridae

Trichomycteridae

Trichomycteridae is a family of catfishes commonly known as the pencil or parasitic catfishes. This family includes the infamous candiru fish, feared by some people for its alleged habit of entering into the urethra of humans....

. Their greatest diversity seems to occur in the Amazon River

Amazon River

The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

 basin. Most species inhabit leaf litter, while four species have been described from caves.

This genus was first erected for nine species previously classified in Trichomycterus

Trichomycterus

Trichomycterus is a genus of catfishes, the largest genus in the family Trichomycteridae with over 100 species currently described.-Taxonomy:This genus is defined by the lack of specializations found in other trichomycterids and is certainly polyphyletic...

. Ituglanis is believed to be a monophyletic

Monophyly

In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

 group. There may be two monophyletic groups within this genus. Ituglanis is not part of any of the trichomycterid subfamilies. Instead, it has been suggested to be the sister group

Cladistics

Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...

 of a large clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 composed of the Tridentinae, Stegophilinae

Stegophilinae

Stegophilinae is a subfamily of catfishes of the family Trichomycteridae.It includes twelve genera, Acanthopoma, Apomatoceros, Haemomaster, Henonemus, Homodiaetus, Megalocentor, Ochmacanthus, Parastegophilus, Pareiodon, Pseudostegophilus, Schultzichthys, and Stegophilus...

, Vandelliinae

Vandelliinae

The Vandelliinae are a subfamily of catfishes of the family Trichomycteridae. Vandelliines are hematophagous, feeding on the blood of larger fish...

, Sarcoglanidinae

Sarcoglanidinae

Sarcoglanidinae is a subfamily of catfishes of the family Trichomycteridae. It includes six genera, Ammoglanis, Malacoglanis, Microcambeva, Sarcoglanis, Stauroglanis, and Stenolicmus.-Taxonomy:...

, and Glanapteryginae

Glanapteryginae

Glanapteryginae is a subfamily of catfishes of the family Trichomycteridae. It includes four genera, Glanapteryx, Listrura, Pygidianops, and Typhlobelus.-Phylogeny:...

.

Species

• Ituglanis amazonicus (Steindachner
  Franz Steindachner
  Franz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist.- Work and career :Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess...
  
  , 1882)
• Ituglanis bambui Bichuette & Trajano, 2004
• Ituglanis cahyensis
• Ituglanis eichorniarum (Miranda Ribeiro, 1912)
• Ituglanis epikarsticus Bichuette & Trajano, 2004
• Ituglanis gracilior (Eigenmann
  Carl H. Eigenmann
  Carl H. Eigenmann was an ichthyologist who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, described many of the fishes of North America and South America for the first time....
  
  , 1912)
• Ituglanis guayaberensis (Dahl, 1960)
• Ituglanis herberti (Miranda Ribeiro, 1940)
• Ituglanis laticeps (Kner, 1863)
• Ituglanis macunaima Datovo & Landim, 2005
• Ituglanis mambai Bichuette & Trajano, 2008
• Ituglanis metae (Eigenmann, 1918)
• Ituglanis nebulosus de Pinna & Keith, 2003
• Ituglanis paraguassuensis Campos-Paiva & Costa, 2007
• Ituglanis parahybae (Eigenmann, 1918)
• Ituglanis parkoi (Miranda Ribeiro, 1944)
• Ituglanis passensis Fernández & Bichuette, 2002
• Ituglanis proops (Miranda Ribeiro, 1908)
• Ituglanis ramiroi Bichuette & Trajano, 2004