Rheophile

A rheophile prefers to live in fast moving water.

Examples of rheophilic animals

Insects

• Many aquatic insects living in riffles require current to survive.^[1]
• Epeorus sylvicola, a rheophilic mayfly species (Ephemeroptera).

Birds

• American dipper, Cinclus mexicanus, family Cinclidae.
• Harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus

Fish

A very large number of rheophilic fish species are known and include members of at least 419 genera in 60 families.^[2] Examples include:

• Many species in the family Balitoridae, also known as the hill stream loaches.
• Many species in the family Loricariidae from South and Central America
• Many Chiloglanis species, which are freshwater catfish from Africa
• The family Gyrinocheilidae.
• Rheophilic cichlid genera/species.
  • The Lamena group in the genus Paretroplus from Madagascar.
  • Oxylapia polli from Madagascar.
  • Retroculus species from the Amazon Basin and rivers in the Guianas in South America.
  • Steatocranus species from the Congo River Basin in Africa.
  • Teleocichla species from the Amazon Basin in South America.
  • Teleogramma species from the Congo River Basin in Africa.
• Ossubtus xinguense from the Xingu River in Brazil
• Tometes species from tropical South America
• The Danube streber (Zingel streber), family Percidae.
• Leuciscus idus, a freshwater cyprinid

Molluscs

• Ancylus fluviatilis
• Aylacostoma species
• Lymnaea ovata
• Bithynia tentaculata

Amphibians

• Neurergus strauchii, a newt from Turkey
• Pachytriton labiatus, a newt from China

See also

• Lotic ecosystem

Notes

1. ↑ Hynes, H.B.N. 1970. Ecology of Running Waters. Originally published in Toronto by University of Toronto Press, 555p.
2. ↑ Nathan K. Lujan and Kevin W. Conway (2015). Life in the Fast Lane: A Review of Rheophily in Freshwater Fishes. Pp. 107-307 in: R. Riesch et al. (eds.). Extremophile Fishes. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-319-13361-4