Phago is a small genus of African characins in the pike-characin family Distichodontidae, placed with the fin-eating and scale-eating specialists of that group. The atlas covers 3 species, all drawn from river systems across Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and the Republic of Congo. Members of the genus share an elongated, torpedo-shaped body and a long, narrow snout armed with small sharp teeth, an adaptation built for a highly specialised feeding strategy rather than for grazing on plants or plankton like most of their distichodontid relatives.
What sets Phago apart, and what makes it a genuine curiosity of West and Central African ichthyology, is lepidophagy and fin-eating: these fish stalk and dart at other fish to bite scales and fin tissue rather than swallowing prey whole. Phago loricatus, aptly known as the fin-eater, and the spotted Phago boulengeri (Phago intermedius rounds out the genus) both fit this pattern, growing to a modest 6.5 in. All three species carry an IUCN status of Least Concern, and none are currently tracked under a CARES conservation priority. In the aquarium hobby they are seen only occasionally, kept by specialists interested in unusual predatory behaviour rather than as community fish, since their feeding habit makes them poor tankmates for finned neighbours.