Old world knifefish

Old world knifefish
	African knifefish ( Xenomystus nigri )
Systematics
Subclass :	Neuflosser (Neopterygii)
Subclass :	Real bony fish (Teleostei)
Overcohort :	Osteoglossomorpha (Osteoglossomorpha)
Order :	Bony tongues (Osteoglossiformes)
Subordination :	Knifefish-like (Notopteroidei)
Family :	Old world knifefish
Scientific name
	Notopteridae
	Bleeker , 1859

The notopteridae (Notopteridae ( Gr . "Noton" = back, "pteron" = wing)) are a family of Knochenzünglerartigen (Osteoglossiformes). The animals, which grow to a length of 21 centimeters to 1.5 meters, live in the fresh waters of tropical Africa , India and Southeast Asia . They are major edible fish.

features

Old-world knife-fish resemble the New-world knife -fish with their long anal fin that constantly moves in waves , but they are not related to them. The fish are monochrome, mostly dark, at most with a few dark spots or eye spots in a row above the anal fin. The anal fin has grown together with the caudal fin and is supported by 94 to 141 fin rays. The dorsal fin is short or absent. The pectoral fins have 11 to 17, the pelvic fins 3 to 6 fin rays. 120 to 180 scales are counted along the lateral organ . Old world knifefish have 66 to 86 vertebrae.

Species and genera

There are eleven species in four genera and two subfamilies:

Asiatic knifefish (Notopterinae)
- Chitala Fowler, 1934
  - Chitala blanci (d'Aubenton, 1965)
  - Chitala borneensis (Bleeker, 1851)
  - Chitala chitala (Hamilton, 1822)
  - Chitala hypselonotus (Bleeker, 1852)
  - Giant knife fish ( Chitala lopis ( Bleeker , 1851) )
  - Thousand dollar fish ( Chitala ornata ( Gray , 1831) )
- Asiatic flag knifefish ( Notopterus lacepède, 1800 )
  - Notopterus notopterus ( Pallas , 1769)
  - Notopterus synurus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
African knifefish (Xenomystinae)
- Papyrocranus Greenwood, 1963
  - African flag knifefish ( Papyrocranus afer ( Günther , 1868) )
  - Papyrocranus congoensis (Nichols & La Monte, 1932)
- Xenomystus Günther, 1868
  - African knifefish ( Xenomystus nigri (Günther, 1868) )

literature

Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World. 4th edition. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig et al. 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Kurt Fiedler: Fish (= textbook of special zoology. Vol. 2: Vertebrates. Part. 2). Gustav Fischer, Jena 1991, ISBN 3-334-00338-8 .

supporting documents

↑ Sébastien Lavoué, Siti Zafirah Ghazali, Jamsari Amirul Firdaus Jamaluddin, Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Khaironizam Md. Zain: Genetic evidence for the recognition of two allopatric species of Asian bronze featherback Notopterus (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha, Notopteridae). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 96 (2): 449-454.

Web links

Commons : Old World Knifefish - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Old World Knifefish on Fishbase.org (English)

[Lavoué-1] Sébastien Lavoué, Siti Zafirah Ghazali, Jamsari Amirul Firdaus Jamaluddin, Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Khaironizam Md. Zain: Genetic evidence for the recognition of two allopatric species of Asian bronze featherback Notopterus (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha, Notopteridae). Zoosystematics and Evolution, 96 (2): 449-454.