# Phractura

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***Phractura*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [loach catfishes](/source/Loach_catfish) ([order](/source/Order_(biology)) Siluriformes) that occur in Africa.

*Phractura* species are elongated fish with a long [caudal peduncle](/source/Caudal_peduncle) and bony scutes on the sides, back, and belly.,[1] this feature giving the genus its name from the [Greek](/source/Greek_language) *phraktos*, which means enclosed and *oura* which means tail.[2] *Phractura* species are often associated with vegetation.[1] The genus was originally given the name *Peltura* but this name was preoccupied by a genus of [trilobites](/source/Trilobites) which the name *[Peltura](/source/Peltura)* had been applied to by [Louis Agassiz](/source/Louis_Agassiz) in 1846.[3] *Phractura* species, like other genera in Doumeinae, have a mouth modified into a [suckermouth](/source/Suckermouth) that allows it to clean to the objects and scrape the surface of the substrate.[4]

## Species

There are currently 13 recognized species in this genus:[5]

- *[Phractura ansorgii](/source/Phractura_ansorgii)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1902 (African whiptailed catfish)
- *[Phractura bovei](/source/Phractura_bovei)* [Perugia](/source/Alberto_Perugia), 1892
- *[Phractura brevicauda](/source/Phractura_brevicauda)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1911
- *[Phractura clauseni](/source/Phractura_clauseni)* [Daget](/source/Jacques_Daget) & [Stauch](/source/Alfred_Stauch), 1963
- *[Phractura fasciata](/source/Phractura_fasciata)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1920
- *[Phractura gladysae](/source/Phractura_gladysae)* [Pellegrin](/source/Jacques_Pellegrin), 1931
- *[Phractura intermedia](/source/Phractura_intermedia)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1911
- *[Phractura lindica](/source/Phractura_lindica)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1902
- *[Phractura longicauda](/source/Phractura_longicauda)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1903
- *[Phractura macrura](/source/Phractura_macrura)* [Poll](/source/Max_Poll), 1967
- *[Phractura scaphyrhynchura](/source/Phractura_scaphyrhynchura)* [Vaillant](/source/Leon_Vaillant), 1886
- *[Phractura stiassny](/source/Phractura_stiassny)* [Skelton](/source/Paul_H._Skelton), 2007[6]
- *[Phractura tenuicauda](/source/Phractura_tenuicauda)* [Boulenger](/source/George_Albert_Boulenger), 1902

## References

1. Skelton, Paul H. (1992). ["Amphiliidae"](http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/Fau_trop/36567.pdf) (in French). *Faune des poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres d'Afrique de l'Ouest*. Vol. Tome 2. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique and O.R.S.T.O.M., Paris, France, 902. pp. 450–467.

1. ["Summary of Phractura"](https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/genus.php?genus_id=125). PlabetCatish.com. Retrieved 28 July 2017.

1. Carl J. Ferraris Jr. (2007). ["Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types"](http://specifyassets.nhm.ku.edu/Ichthyology/originals/sp6399346589634695080.att.pdf). *Zootaxa*. **1418**: 1–625. [doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1](https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1)

1. Diogo, Rui; Oliveira, Claudia; Chardon, Michel (January 2000). ["On the anatomy and function of the cephalic structures in *Phractura* (Siluriformes: Amphiliidae), with comments on some striking homoplasies occurring between the Doumeinae and some loricaroid catfishes"](http://www.naturalsciences.be/institute/associations/rbzs_website/bjz/back/pdf/BJZ%20130(2)/Volume%20130(2),%20pp.%20117-130.pdf). *Belg. J. Zool.*. **130** (1): 117–130.

1. Skelton, Paul H. (2007). ["New species of the amphiliid catfish genera *Amphilius*, *Doumea* and *Phractura* and the taxonomy of *Paramphilius* from West Central Africa (Siluriformes, Amphiliidae)"](http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2007f/zt01578p068.pdf). *[Zootaxa](/source/Zootaxa)*. **1578**: 41–68. [doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1578.1.2](https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1578.1.2)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Phractura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phractura) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phractura?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.