Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues. In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy scales, with a mosaic pattern of canals. The dorsal and anal fins have soft rays and are long based, while the pectoral and ventral fins are small. The name "bonytongues" is derived from a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the "tongue", equipped with teeth that bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. The arowana is a facultative air breather and can obtain oxygen from air by sucking it into its swim bladder, which is lined with capillaries like lung tissue.
The Asian arowana comprises several phenotypic varieties of freshwater fish distributed geographically across Southeast Asia. While most consider the different varieties to belong to a single species, work by Pouyaud et al. (2003) differentiates these varieties into multiple species. They have several other common names, including Asian bonytongue, dragonfish, and a number of names specific to the different color varieties.
Scleropages jardinii, the Gulf saratoga, Australian bonytongue, Pearl arowana or northern saratoga, is a freshwater bony fish native to Australia and New Guinea, one of two species of fishes sometimes known as Australian arowana, the other being Scleropages leichardti. It has numerous other common names, including northern saratoga, toga and barramundi. It is a member of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, a (basal) teleost group. Its scientific name is sometimes spelled S. jardini.
The barramundi, Asian sea bass, or giant sea perch is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
The Atlantic wreckfish, also known as the stone bass or bass groper, is a marine, bathydemersal, and oceanodromous ray-finned fish in the family Polyprionidae. It has a worldwide, if disjunct, distribution in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Scleropages is a genus of fish in the family Osteoglossidae found in Asia and Australia. All of these species are carnivorous and have great jumping ability. These species are highly valued as aquarium fish, particularly by those from Asian cultures. In 2003, a study redescribed several naturally occurring color varieties of S. formosus into four separate species. The majority of researchers dispute these redescriptions, arguing that the published data are insufficient to justify recognizing more than one Southeast Asian species of Scleropages and that divergent haplotypes used to distinguish the color strains into isolated species were found within a single color strain, contradicting the findings. They are considered monotypic, consisting of closely related haplotypes based on color. The ancestor of the Australian arowanas: S. jardinii and S. leichardti, diverged from the ancestor of the Asian arowanas about 140 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period. The morphological similarity of all seven species shows that little evolutionary change has taken place recently for these ancient fish. The genus had a much wider distribution during the early Cenozoic, with fossil remains known from the Paleocene of Niger and Belgium, and from the Eocene of China.
Synodontis nigrita, known as the false upside down catfish, is a species of upside-down catfish that occurs widely in northern Africa. It was first described by French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1840. The type specimen is in the Muséum National d' Histoire Naturelle de Paris.
Synodontis ruandae is a species of upside-down catfish native to Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania where it is found in the Kagera River system. It was first described by Belgian ichthyologist Hubert Matthes in 1959, based upon holotypes discovered in the Kagera River at Rusumo, Rwanda. The specific name "ruandae" is derived from its type locality, Rwanda.
Synodontis alberti, the bigeye squeaker, Albert's syno, bigspotted squeaker, or high-fin synodontis, is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Congo Basin of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It was originally described in 1891 by Belgian ichthyologist Louise Schilthuis after its discovery in the Malebo Pool of the Congo River.
Synodontis batesii is a species of upside-down catfish native to rivers of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It was first collected by G. L. Bates and described by Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1907, based upon holotypes discovered in the Dja River, near Bitye in Cameroon. The specific name "batesii" refers to the name of the collector of the first specimen.
Synodontis congicus is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo where it occurs in the upper and middle Congo Basin. It was first described by Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll in 1971. The first specimen was found near the town of Gangala-na-Bodio, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Dungu River. The meaning of the specific name "congicus" is "From the Congo".
Synodontis flavitaeniatus, known as the orangestriped squeaker, the chocolatestriped squeaker, the yellowstriped squeaker, and the pyjama Syno, is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo where it is found in the lower and central Congo Basin. It was first described by Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1919. The holotype was collected from the Ruki River at Eala, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The meaning of the specific name "flavitaeniatus" is "yellow stripes".
Synodontis greshoffi is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Congo Basin of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It was first collected by M.A. Greshoff in Pool Malebo on the upper Congo River, and the species was named for him by the author of the first paper written about the species, Belgian ichthyologist Louise Schilthuis, in 1891.
Synodontis guttatus is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to the Niger River basin of Nigeria. It was first described by German ichthyologist Albert Günther in 1865, from the Niger River. The species name guttatus is the Latin word for "spotted", referring to the spots appearing on the fins and body of the fish.
Synodontis haugi, known as the black synodontis, is a species of upside-down catfish native to Gabon where it is found in the Ogowe River basin. It was first collected by M.E. Haug and described by French zoologist Jacques Pellegrin in 1906, based upon a holotype discovered in the Ogooué River, near Ngomo, Gabon. The specific name "huagi" is a tribute to the original collector of the species.
Synodontis longirostris, known as the eyespot synodontis, is a species of upside-down catfish that is native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where it occurs in the Congo Basin. It was first described by British-Belgian zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1902, from specimens obtained in the Ubangi River at Banzyville. The species name longirostris comes from the Latin word longus, meaning "long", and the Latin word rostrum, meaning snout, referring to the long snout on this species.
Synodontis notatus, known as the onespot squeaker, the one-spot synodontis, or the domino syno, is a species of upside-down catfish native to the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. It was first described by French zoologist Léon Vaillant in 1893. The specific name "notatus" comes from the Latin word for "marked", as with a spot.
Synodontis pardalis is a species of upside-down catfish that is endemic to Cameroon where it occurs in the Dja River drainage. It was first described by British-Belgian zoologist George Albert Boulenger in 1908, from specimens collected in the Dja River in southern Cameroon. The species name pardalis is derived from the Greek word pardalis, which means "leopard", which refers to the spotted pattern on the fish.
The Batik Arowana or Myanmar arowana(Scleropages inscriptus), is a large, bony-tongued fish native to Myanmar. The species is found in the Tanintharyi River basin on the Indian Ocean coast of peninsular Myanmar.
Synodontis woleuensis is a species of upside-down catfish native to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It was first described in 2008 by American zoologists John P. Friel and John P. Sullivan. The original holotypes were collected in the Woleu-Ntem Province, Gabon. The specific name "woleuensis" is derived from the Woleu River, where the specimens were originally collected.
