Kneriidae

Kneriidae Temporal range: Middle Eocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Kneria angolensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gonorynchiformes
Family:	Kneriidae Günther, 1868 [1]
Genera
See text

The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to sub-Saharan Africa.

The species in this family typically live in fast-flowing streams, often in highlands, and are small fish, no more than 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. The second subfamily Phractolaeminae contains only a single species, which typically inhabits stagnant or slow-moving waters and reaches up to 25 cm (9.8 in) in length. All Kneriidae have an elongated body shape. Some species are sexually dimorphic, with the male possessing a rosette on the gill covers that is absent in the females. Other species are neotenic, retaining larval features into adulthood. ^[2]

Classification

There are about 31 extant (living) species in four genera. ^[3] Phractolaemidae is now regarded as a full family. ^{[4] [5]}

Genera

• Cromeria Boulenger, 1901
• Grasseichthys Géry, 1964
• Kneria Steindachner, 1866
• Parakneria Poll, 1965

In addition, the family includes the genus Mahengichthys Davis, Arratia & Kaiser, 2013, which only is known from Eocene fossil remains and is closer to Kneriinae than Phractolaemidae. ^{[5] [6]}

References

1. Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 . PMID   25543675.
2. Banister, Keith F. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W. N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 97. ISBN   0-12-547665-5.
3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Kneriidae". FishBase . July 2021 version.
4. Eschmeyer, W.N.; Grande, T.; Grande, L. (2010). "A Nomenclatural Analysis of Gonorynchiform Taxa". Gonorynchiformes and Ostariophysan Relationships. pp. 567–587. doi:10.1201/b10194-14. ISBN   978-0-429-06156-1.
5. Near, T.J.; Dornburg, A.; Friedman, M. (2014). "Phylogenetic relationships and timing of diversification in gonorynchiform fishes inferred using nuclear gene DNA sequences (Teleostei: Ostariophysi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 80: 297–307. Bibcode:2014MolPE..80..297N. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.07.013.
6. Davis, M.P.; Arratia, G.; Kaiser, T.M. (2013). "The first fossil shellear (Gonorynchiformes: Kneriidae) from the Eocene lake of Mahenge (Tanzania)". Mesozoic Fishes 5 - Global Diversity and Evolution. F. Pfeil. pp. 325–362. ISBN   978-3-89937-159-8.