| 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 | |
Heteropneustes, the airsac catfishes, is a genus of catfishes native to Asia. This genus is the only one in its family.
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]
- Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) (stinging catfish)
- Heteropneustes kemratensis (Fowler, 1937)
- Heteropneustes nani Hossain, Sarker, Sharifuzzaman & Chowdhury, 2013[3]
- Heteropneustes longipectoralis Rema Devi & Raghunathan, 1999
- Heteropneustes microps (Günther, 1864)
References
- ^ Nelson, J. S.: Fishes of the World, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p , 2006 ISBN 0-471-25031-7
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). Species of Heteropneustes in FishBase. October 2013 version.
- ^ a b 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.