Ichthyoelephas

Ichthyoelephas is a genus of South American freshwater fish from the family Prochilodontidae.^[1]

Ichthyoelephas
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Prochilodontidae
Genus:	Ichthyoelephas Posada, 1909

There are two species in the genus: I. humeralis reaches a length of at least 40 cm (1.3 ft) and is found in the Santiago and Guayas river basins in Ecuador,^[2] and I. longirostris reaches a length of 80 cm (2.6 ft) and is found in the Cauca–Magdalena river basin in Colombia.^[3]

They feed on algae and detritus that are taken off rocks with their fleshy lips.^[4][5] They are commercially important food fish.^[4][5]

Species

There are two species:^[1]

• Ichthyoelephas humeralis (Günther, 1860)
• Ichthyoelephas longirostris (Steindachner, 1879)