Kurtus | |
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male Indian humphead (K. indicus) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Kurtiformes |
Family: | Kurtidae Bleeker, 1859 |
Genus: | Kurtus Bloch, 1786 |
Type species | |
Kurtus indicus Bloch, 1786 | |
Synonyms | |
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Kurtus is a genus of percomorph fishes, called the nurseryfishes, forehead brooders, or incubator fish, native to fresh, brackish and coastal marine waters ranging from India, through southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia. Kurtus is currently the only known genus in the family Kurtidae, [1] [2] one of two families in the order Kurtiformes. [3] They are famous for carrying their egg clusters on hooks protruding from the forehead (supraoccipital) of the males, although this only has been documented in K. gulliveri and available evidence strongly suggests this is not done by K. indicus (where the hook likely also is too small to carry embryos). [4] Females do not have a hook. [4]
In addition to the egg hook, the kurtid gas bladder is enclosed in a tubular bony structure evolved from the ribs. In both species, the back is elevated into a hump shape.
Despite their unusual reproductive habits, little is known about these species. Historically they have proven very difficult to keep alive in aquaria, although recent success with K. gulliveri has been achieved by Tokyo Sea Life Park in Japan.
The currently recognized species in this genus are: [5]
Tim M. Berra is Academy Professor and Professor Emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University. He received his MS and Ph.D. in Biology from Tulane University in 1969. He is a three-time recipient of Fulbright Fellowships to Australia in 1969, 1979, and 2009. He taught at the University of Papua New Guinea before joining the faculty of OSU in 1972. He has spent over 11 years doing fieldwork in Australia. He is known for his ichthyological research and biographies of Charles Darwin, Darwin's children and naturalist William Beebe. Berra has researched and written about the Murray cod, trout cod, Australian Grayling, salamanderfish, galaxiids, Megamouth shark and the nurseryfish. In 2009 the Smithsonian Institution received his collection of 260 species of rare fishes. In 2022 the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) presented Berra the "Friend of Darwin" award.
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus Gadus is commonly not called cod.
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae.
The ricefishes are a family (Adrianichthyidae) of small ray-finned fish that are found in fresh and brackish waters from India to Japan and out into the Malay Archipelago, most notably Sulawesi. The common name ricefish derives from the fact that some species are found in rice paddies. This family consists of about 37 species in two genera. Several species are rare and threatened, and some 2–4 may already be extinct.
Osphronemus is a genus of large gouramis, the only genus within the subfamily Osphroneminae. These fish are known as the giant gouramis and are native to rivers, lakes, pools, swamps and floodplains in Southeast Asia, with O. exodon from the Mekong basin, O. laticlavius and O. septemfasciatus from Borneo, while O. goramy is relatively widespread. O. goramy has been introduced outside its native range in Asia, Africa and Australia.
Bagrichthys is a genus of bagrid catfishes.
Hyalobagrus is a genus of bagrid catfishes found in Southeast Asia.
Taeniamia zosterophora, the girdled cardinalfish, is a species of cardinalfish native to the western Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to Vanuatu and from the Ryukyus to Australia. It is in the genus Taeniamia, which was described in 2013. This species can be found on reefs in protected bays and lagoons, occurring in dense schools around and among the branches of various species of branching corals, notably Porites cylindrica and species of Acropora and over sandy patches. It is found at depths from 1 to 40 m. This species can reach a total length of 8 cm (3.1 in). It can be distinguished by two narrow vertical red stripes next to its gills and by a distinct small black dot at the base of its tail. It occasionallyis found in the aquarium trade.
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Barbucca is a genus of loaches native to Southeast Asia. It is currently the only genus in its family.
Ancistrogobius is a genus of gobies native to the western Pacific Ocean. The first fossil record of this genus is Ancistrogobius indicus from the Burdigalian of southwestern India.
Archamia bleekeri, also known as Gon's cardinalfish, is a species of fish in the family Apogonidae, the cardinalfishes. It is native to the coastal waters of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean from Africa to Indonesia and from Taiwan to Queensland, Australia. This species occurs in mangrove forests and reefs, and is an inhabitant of shipwrecks, preferring silty areas with muddy or sandy substrates. This species grows to a total length of 10 cm (3.9 in). This species is the only member of its genus. The other species were moved to the new genus Taeniamia in 2013.
Kurtus gulliveri, the nurseryfish, is a species of fish in the family Kurtidae native to fresh and brackish waters in southern New Guinea and northern Australia. They can be found in estuaries, mangrove swamps, nipa swamps and slow-flowing rivers with high turbidity. This species can reach a length of 63 cm (25 in), although most are far smaller: In a study of its morphology, 159 specimens were examined and the largest was 33 cm (13 in), while the average was 14 cm (5.5 in). This species is famous for its unusual breeding strategy where the male carries the egg cluster on a hook protruding from the forehead (supraoccipital). Females do not have a hook. It feeds on crustaceans, small fish and insect larvae. This species is well regarded as food. The specific name honours a "Mr Gulliver" who collected the type, thought most likely to refer to Thomas Allen Gulliver (1847-1931) who worked on Australia's a post and telegraph services and who lived near the Norman River, Gulf of Carpentaria where he collected natural history specimens and where the type of this species was collected.
Kurtus indicus, the Indian humphead, is a species of fish in the family Kurtidae native to fresh, brackish, and marine waters of the coastal regions of southern Asia from India to southeast China and Indonesia. It resembles the closely related K. gulliveri, but is far smaller, only reaching a length of 12.6 cm (5 in). Although it has been suggested that the male carries the egg cluster on a hook protruding from the forehead, available evidence strongly suggests this is not the case in K. indicus: Out of several thousand examined, none carried eggs in this manner and the male's hook is likely also too small. The female lacks the hook entirely. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries.
The stripey, also known as the footballer or convict fish, is a species of ray-finned fish, a sea chub from the subfamily Microcanthinae which is part of the family Kyphosidae. It is native to the Pacific Ocean where it has a wide range. This species may be found in the aquarium trade. It is the only known member of its genus.
Taeniamia fucata, commonly known as the orange-lined- or painted cardinalfish, is a marine fish native to reefs from northern Australia and New Guinea, across the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa, and Pacific Ocean to Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and the Ryukyu Islands. It was known as Archamia fucata until 2013. FishBase treats T. sansibaricus as synonymous with T. fucata. but T. sansibaricus is recognised as valid by the Catalog of Fishes:
The Kurtiformes consist of two extant families of ray-finned fish, the Indo-Pacific Kurtidae and the much more diverse and widespread Apogonidae. The order is part of the Percomorpha clade and is regarded by many authorities as a sister taxon to the Gobiiformes.
Congrogadus is a genus of ray-finned fishes, the type genus of the subfamily Congrogadinae, the eel blennies, part of the dottyback family, Pseudochromidae. The genus Congrogadus has an Indo-Pacific distribution.