[[Genus Trichomycterus]]

Trichomycterus Valenciennes comprises small catfishes, usually about 50-150 mm SL, inhabiting mountain rivers of South America and southern Central America. Each species often is restricted to a short section of a river drainage (Eigenmann, 1918; Costa, 1992; Barbosa & Costa, 2003; Alencar & Costa, 2004; Lima & Costa, 2004). Although known to contain many species, Trichomycterus is poorly known (de Pinna, 1998) with many of the known species based on brief descriptions and many others undescribed (e. g., Barbosa & Costa, 2003; Alencar & Costa, 2004; Bockmann & Sazima, 2004; Bockmann et al., 2004; Lima & Costa, 2004). In spite of many studies on Trichomycterus, the genus still is diagnosed by the absence of apomorphic characters present in other genera of the subfamily.