Heterobranchus
| Heterobranchus Temporal range: Lower Pliocene - Recent | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| 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 | |
|
5, See text. | |
Heterobranchus is a genus of airbreathing catfishes native to Africa. However, H. palaeindicus, the only known extinct species of the genus, was discovered in the Siwalik Hills, India, dating to the Lower Pliocene.[1]
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 one fossil species:[1][2]
Recent species
- Heterobranchus bidorsalis É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809 (African Catfish)
- Heterobranchus boulengeri (Pellegrin, 1922)
- Heterobranchus isopterus (Bleeker, 1863) —found in West Africa—
- Heterobranchus longifilis Valenciennes, 1840 (Vundu; Sampa)
Fossil species
- Heterobranchus palaeindicus (Lydekker, 1886) †
References
- 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.
- 1 2 Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). Species of Heterobranchus in FishBase. December 2011 version.
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