Vampires who don't suck blood: New "Vampire fish" found on Amazon for the first time

The Amazon river basin is inhabited by approximately 15% of the freshwater fish species known to the scientific community, and it is estimated that 40% have not yet been named

When sampling the freshwater fish fauna of the Teheni River Basin, researchers from the University of the Amazon and Lee University in Washington, on the left bank tributary of the Nigeria River, discovered a parasitic catfish attached to the surface of the Amazon spiny catfish.

Because of these observations, the research team recently published the first record of a parasitic catfish attached to the surface of an Amazon spiny catfish in an article published in the open-access academic journal "Acta Ichthyology"

This blood-sucking fish has a long and strong nose and hard teeth that help them attach to the host's epidermis and feed on the host's blood

"We believe that in this case, the connection between the toothpick fish and the host may be symbiotic rather than parasitic, because the host has not been severely harmed, and the parasitic catfish clearly does not benefit from food," the study said.

But what else can they look for from the backs of Amazon spiny catfish? One explanation might be that because the parasitic catfish are so small and almost transparent, they might ride on larger fish to avoid being noticed by visual predators

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DOI

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