title: Rheophile
text: # Rheophile
  
  A rheophile is an animal that prefers to live in fast-moving water.
  
  ## Examples of rheophilic animals
  
  ### Insects
  
  * Many aquatic insects living in riffles require current to survive.
  * Epeorus sylvicola, a rheophilic mayfly species (Ephemeroptera)
  * Some African (Elattoneura) and Asian threadtail (Prodasineura) species
  
  ### Birds
  
  * Dippers (Cinclus)
  * Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) and mountain wagtail (Motacilla clara)
  * A few swifts often nest behind waterfalls, including American black swift (Cypseloides niger), giant swiftlet (Hydrochous gigas), great dusky swift (Cypseloides senex) and white-collared swift (Streptoprocne zonaris)
  * Some waterfowl, including African black duck (Anas sparsa), blue duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), Brazilian merganser (Mergus octosetaceus), bronze-winged duck (Speculanas specularis), harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), Salvadori's teal (Salvadorina waigiuensis) and torrent duck (Merganetta armata)
  
  ### Fish
  
  A very large number of rheophilic fish species are known and include members of at least 419 genera in 60 families. 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.
  * Mylesinus, Myleus, Ossubtus, Tometes and Utiaritichthys, which are serrasalmids from tropical South America
  * The Danube streber (Zingel streber), family Percidae.
  
  ### Molluscs
  
  * Ancylus fluviatilis
  * Aylacostoma species
  * Lymnaea ovata
  
  ### Amphibians
  
  * Neurergus strauchii, a newt from Turkey
  * Pachytriton labiatus, a newt from China
  