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The extent of the problems discussed above are detailed here to illustrate the 

 point that phylogenetic relationships among auchenipterids are still not well 

 understood. There is good evidence that species within several groups are 

 monophyletic, but the relationships among the genera are not clearly resolved. 

 While I feel that Ferraris (1988) contributed more information about systematics of 

 auchenipterids and ageneiosids than all previous authors, I hesitate to adopt his 

 cladogram as dogma, and prefer to retain the present, widely-accepted designation 

 of family-group names (Nelson 1984) until more data become available. The 

 present situation is one in which there is unequivocal evidence that all of the 

 currently recognized auchenipterid and ageneiosid genera form a monophyletic 

 group, but some relationships among them are uncertain, due to unavailable 

 morphological and reproductive information. While I concur with Ferraris (1988; 

 quoted above) that the ultimate goal of classification is to accurately reflect 

 evolutionary history, I feel that it is necessary to have strongly corroborated 

 hypotheses of relationships before an accurate classification scheme can be 

 constructed. Eventually, perhaps, all of the genera currently placed in the 

 Auchenipteridae {semu lata) and Ageneiosidae will be classified together in one 

 higher category, but I am confident that the lineage inchx^ing Agenewsus and 

 Tetranematichthys will continue to be recognized as a monophyletic unit. 



Based on the studies by Britski (1972), Ferraris (1988), and Curran (1989), it 

 appears that ageneiosids share closest affinities with some or all of the taxa included 

 in the genera Trachefyopterus,Auchenipterus, Epapterus, and perhaps Entomocorus. 

 A better resolution of the relationships among all of these taxa requires additional 

 research, including, most importantly, anatomical study of the reproductive anatomy 

 of males. 



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