Heteropneustes

Heteropneustes, the airsac catfishes, is a genus of catfishes native to Asia. This genus is the only one in its family.

Heteropneustes
Heteropneustes fossilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Superfamily: Siluroidea
Family: Heteropneustidae
Hora, 1936
Genus: Heteropneustes
J. P. Müller, 1840
Type species
Silurus fossilis
Bloch, 1794
Synonyms

Saccobranchus
Valenciennes, 1840
Clarisilurus
Fowler, 1937

Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sac that serve as lungs that extends from the gill chamber. The dorsal fin is short and has no spine. The pectoral fins have an associated venom gland and as a result the fish is considered dangerous.[1] They are oviparous; distinct pairing is possible.

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus are:[2][3]

References

  1. Nelson, J. S.: Fishes of the World, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p , 2006 ISBN 0-471-25031-7
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). Species of Heteropneustes in FishBase. October 2013 version.
  3. Hossain, M.S., Sarker, S., Sharifuzzaman, S.M. & Chowdhury, S.R. (2013): New species of stinging catfish Heteropneustes nani (Siluriformes: Heteropneustidae) from Noakhali, Bangladesh. Vertebrate Zoology, 63 (3): 259–267.


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