Rheocles

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Rheocles is a genus of Bedotiidae. Rheocles has a restricted distribution, being found only in certain forested freshwater habitats in the central and eastern highlands of Madagascar. The genus appears to feed almost exclusively on allochthonous material, primarily insects falling onto the water surface. In a 1990 study, this genus is monophyletic. However, in a 2004 analysis, it was found that Rheocles was paraphyletic, forming two distinct clades. R. alaotrensis, R. lateralis, and R. wrightae (all species that are not discernibly sexually dimorphic was recovered as the sister taxon of the rest of the bedotiids, including Bedotia sister to R. vatosa + R. derhami. R. pellegrini and R. sikorae were excluded from this study due to lack of available material, however, R. sikorae is considered to be the sister taxon to R. wrightae.