Balitoridae, the hillstream loaches or river loaches, is a family, of small fish from South, Southeast and East Asia. The family includes about 202 species. They are sometimes sold as "lizardfish" or "flossensaugers". Many of the species are popular for aquaria, species in the genus Sewellia are most commonly sold in the aquaria trade. They have a number of similarities with the Cobitidae, their sibling family of "loaches", such as multiple barbels around the mouth. They should not be confused with the loricariids, which look similar but are a family of catfish.
Synbranchiformes, often called swamp eels, though that name can also refer specifically to Synbranchidae, is an order of ray-finned fishes that are eel-like but have spiny rays, indicating that they belong to the superorder Acanthopterygii.
The swamp eels are a family (Synbranchidae) of freshwater eel-like fishes of the tropics and subtropics. Most species are able to breathe air and typically live in marshes, ponds and damp places, sometimes burying themselves in the mud if the water source dries up. They have various adaptations to suit this lifestyle; they are long and slender, they lack pectoral and pelvic fins, and their dorsal and anal fins are vestigial, making them limbless vertebrates. They lack scales and a swimbladder, and their gills open on the throat in a slit or pore. Oxygen can be absorbed through the lining of the mouth and pharynx, which is rich in blood vessels and acts as a "lung".
The Mastacembelidae are a family of fishes, known as the spiny eels. The Mastacembelids are part of the Order Synbranchiformes, the swamp eels, which are part of the Actinopterygii.
The Congridae are the family of conger and garden eels. Congers are valuable and often large food fishes, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden. The family includes over 220 species in 32 genera.
The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish that includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, trevallies, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the only family within that order but molecular and anatomical studies indicate that there is a close relationship between this family and the five former Perciform families which make up the Carangiformes.
The Liberian swamp eel is a species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is indigenous to Liberia. It has also been found in Sierra Leone, with an unconfirmed report from Côte d'Ivoire. It was first described by Jacques Pellegrin in 1922 as Typhlosynbranchus boueti, but was later moved to Monopterus. However, a 2020 study revived Typhlosynbranchus. Due to the deficiency in data, the species has not been classified with respect to endangerment.
Monopterus is a genus of swamp eels native to Asia. They live in various freshwater habitats and some have a fossorial lifestyle.
The Bombay swamp eel, also known as the paytop in Marathi, is a species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is endemic to the state of Maharashtra in India.
The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to sub-Saharan Africa.
Myrophinae, the worm eels, is a subfamily of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ophichthidae, which also includes the snake eels in the subfamily Ophichthinae.
Ophichthys desilvai is a commercially important, air-breathing species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka and is the only endemic synbranchid from there.
Plectorhinchinae, is one of two subfamilies of the family Haemulidae, some known colloquially as sweetlips. This subfamily is regarded as having an Old World origin.
Rakthamichthys rongsaw is a species of swamp eel discovered in the Khasi Hills in northeast India. The researchers were searching for caecilians, when they uncovered the eel in soil.
Procatopodinae is a subfamily of the family Poeciliidae, the "livebearers", in the order Cyprinodontiformes. Some authorities treat this subfamily as a family, the Procatopodidae, including the banded lampeye.
The Procatopodini is an African tribe of fishes, it is part of the subfamily Procatopodinae, within the family Poeciliidae.
Rakthamichthys is a genus of swamp eels that are endemic to India. Three species are known from the Western Ghats and one is known from Northeast India.
The Malabar swamp eel is a species of troglobitic swamp eel endemic to subterranean springs in Kottayam in the Indian state of Kerala.
Typhlosynbranchus is a genus of swamp eels that are native to West and Central Africa. It contains two species that were formerly classified in the primarily Asian genus Monopterus.
Ophichthys is a genus of swamp eels native to South Asia. They live in freshwater or subterranean habitats, and some have a fossorial lifestyle.
