Heterobranchus

Last updated

Heterobranchus
Temporal range: Lower Pliocene - Recent
FMIB 45843 Heterobranchus macronema.jpeg
Heterobranchus isopterus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Clariidae
Genus: Heterobranchus
É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809
Type species
Heterobranchus bidorsalis
É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809
Species

6, see text.

Heterobranchus is a genus of airbreathing catfishes native to Africa. However, H. palaeindicus, an extinct species of the genus, was discovered in the Siwalik Hills, India, dating to the Lower Pliocene. [1]

Contents

Depending on the exact species involved, fish of this genus reach from 64 to 150 cm (25 to 59 in) with H. longifilis being the largest strict freshwater fish in southern Africa, reaching 150 cm (59 in) SL and weighing up to 55 kg (121 lb). [2]

Species

This genus contains four recent and two fossil species: [1] [2]

Recent species

Fossil species

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callichthyidae</span> Family of fishes

Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes, called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates along the lengths of their bodies. It contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as many species in the genus Corydoras.

<i>Clarias</i> Genus of fishes

Clarias is a genus of catfishes of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. The name is derived from the Greek chlaros, which means lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loach catfish</span> Family of fishes

The loach catfishes are a family, Amphiliidae, of catfishes. They are widespread in tropical Africa, but are most common in streams at high elevations; most species are able to cling to rocks in fast-flowing streams. The 13 genera contain 68 species.

<i>Hoplosternum</i> Genus of fishes

Hoplosternum is a small genus of freshwater catfish in the Callichthyinae subfamily of the armored catfish family.

<i>Akysis</i> Genus of catfish

Akysis is the largest genus of catfishes of the family Akysidae.

<i>Astroblepus</i> Genus of fishes

Astroblepus is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. Astroblepus pholeter and A. riberae are troglobites adapted to living in subterranean water systems. These species are typically small, less than 10 cm (4 in). The largest species reaches 30 cm (1 ft). These fish have suckermouths like those of loricariids. They have two pairs of barbels, maxillary and nasal. The dorsal fin spine lacks a locking mechanism. These fish also have odontodes, tiny teeth on their skin. All species exhibit a conical, pointy type on their fin rays like that found in other loricarioids; other species also exhibit a blunt type that is only found on their skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilded catfish</span> Species of fish

The gilded catfish or jau is a South American catfish of the family Pimelodidae. It is also known as manguruyu or black manguruyu.

Exostoma is a genus of sisorid catfishes native to Asia. These species are distributed in the Brahmaputra drainage of north-eastern India, and east and south to the Salween drainages in Burma. E. berdmorei is found in the Sittang and Salween drainages in Burma. E. labiatum is known from the Brahmaputra drainage in north-eastern India, but has also been recorded in the Salween drainage in Burma, the Ayeyarwady drainage in China, and the Brahmaputra drainage in Tibet and Burma. E. stuarti is from the Ayeyarwady River of Burma and India; however, it has not been collected since its original discovery. E. labiatum is found in mountain rapids.

<i>Ictalurus</i> Genus of fishes

Ictalurus is a genus of North American freshwater catfishes. It includes the well-known channel catfish and blue catfish.

<i>Plotosus</i> Genus of fishes

Plotosus is a genus of eeltail catfishes native to the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean and New Guinea.

Pardiglanis tarabinii, the Somalian giant catfish, is a species of claroteid catfish native to Kenya and Somalia.

<i>Pareutropius</i> Genus of fishes

Pareutropius is a genus of schilbid catfishes native to Africa.

<i>Phractura</i> Genus of fishes

Phractura is a genus of loach catfishes that occur in Africa.

<i>Arius</i> (fish) Genus of fishes

Arius is a genus of catfishes of the family Ariidae. The genus Arius is distributed in brackish and fresh waters of Eastern Africa and south to Southeast Asia.

<i>Clarias gariepinus</i> Species of fish

Clarias gariepinus or African sharptooth catfish is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes.

<i>Batrachocephalus</i> Species of catfish

Batrachocephalus mino, the beardless sea catfish, is the only species of catfish in the genus Batrachocephalus of the family Ariidae. This species occurs in marine and brackish waters of Bay of Bengal, and parts of the western central Pacific, in coastal waters, estuaries, and lower reaches of rivers. It is distributed from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, to Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vundu</span> Species of fish

The vundu is a species of large airbreathing catfish found widely in rivers and other freshwater habitats of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the Nile. It is also called the sampa, cur, lenda, or certa.

<i>Heterobranchus bidorsalis</i> Species of fish

Heterobranchus bidorsalis, the African catfish or eel-like fattyfin catfish, is an airbreathing catfish found in Africa. It is closely related to the vundu catfish, which is well-known among fishermen.

Heterobranchus boulengeri is a species of airbreathing catfish found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is found in Lake Mweru, the Lukonzolwa River and the upper Congo River.

Clarias lamottei is a supposed species of clariid from the Ivory Coast. It has been doubted to be a natural intergeneric hybrid by Teugels, between Clarias gariepinus and Heterobranchus longifilis, through comparisons with three other Clarias and one other Heterobranchus species. Teugels suspects the striking morphological similarities between C. lamottei and extant aquaculture hybrids between the African sharptooth catfish and vundu, of which both have overlapping distribution. Despite this, IUCN evaluations have been made through the observation of the holotype habitat around the Nzi river.

References

  1. 1 2 Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa . 1418: 1–628.
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2011). Species of Heterobranchus in FishBase . December 2011 version.