| Airbreathing catfish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Clarias batrachus at Brno Zoo | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Superfamily: | Siluroidea |
| Family: | Clariidae Bonaparte, 1846 |
| Genera | |
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Bathyclarias | |
Airbreathing catfish comprise the family Clariidae of the order Siluriformes. Sixteen genera and about 117 species of clariid fishes are described; all are freshwater species.[1] Other groups of catfish also breathe air, such as the Callichthyidae and Loricariidae.
YouTube Encyclopedic
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Auburn professor discovers catfish species, names it for Star Wars character
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Silurus asotus(Japanese common catfish/Amur catfish)
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African catfish female (maturation stage)
Transcription
The character we named it after, Greedo, is sort of this enigmatic fan favorite character from the first Star Wars film “A New Hope” and he barely had any lines, they were spoken in a foreign language with subtitles and he was killed right away. But he’s always been this sort of enigmatic figure, and very cool looking, and we had the specimen that would be the type of the species, which is right here, sitting out. We were trying to figure out the characteristics on it, and we share a lab with some arachnologists, and one of them looked at it and said “You know, that looks like that guy from Star Wars.” I said, which one, “That guy that got shot by Han Solo” I was like Greedo, and as soon as we heard that we knew what the species name would be. Taxonomy is kind of a difficult science because if you look at the group we are talking about here there are 800 species, over 800 species described. So you have to know what are the described ones to be able to figure out what are the undescribed ones. So we do measurements on them we look at various characteristics on them and compare them to the species that we do know and can separate them that way. When we look across the planet we think we know what’s out there, but we don’t. There is a lot of species that remain undescribed. With fishes we’re probably three quarters of the way there of figuring it out, but in other groups like spiders, like beetles like other insects, we still don’t have a clue what’s out there, and so a lot of taxonomy still needs to be done. We like to think about all these high tech things we can do like genetics and genomics and all these things we can do now a days with modern technology, but they really mean nothing if we don’t know what the species are. So taxonomists are probably the only scientists that are required by all fields of biology, everybody needs taxonomy, and in most of these groups we haven’t even scratched the surface of the diversity that’s out there on the planet.
Distribution
Although clariids occur in India, Syria, southern Turkey, and large parts of Southeast Asia, their diversity is the largest in Africa.[2]
Description
Clariid catfish are characterized by an elongated body, the presence of four barbels, long dorsal and anal fins, and especially by the autapomorphic presence of a suprabranchial organ, formed by tree-like structures from the second and fourth gill arches.[1][2] This suprabranchial organ, or labyrinth organ, allows some species the capability of traveling short distances on land (walking catfish).[1]
The dorsal fin base is very long and is not preceded by a fin spine. The dorsal fin may or may not be continuous with the caudal fin, which is rounded. Pectoral and pelvic fins are variously absent in some species. Some fish have small eyes and reduced or absent pectoral and pelvic fins for a burrowing lifestyle. A few species are blind.[1]
Within the family Clariidae, body forms range from fusiform (torpedo-like) to anguilliform (eel-like). As species become more eel-shaped, a whole set of morphological changes has been observed, such as decrease and loss of the adipose fin, continuous unpaired fins, reduction of paired fins, reduction of the eyes, reduction of the skull bones, and hypertrophied jaw muscles.[2]
Taxonomy
The Heteropneustidae containing the genus Heteropneustes are considered by some to be a separate family and by others to be a subfamily. With the Heteropneustidae and Clariidae as separate families, a recent paper groups them into a superfamily called the Clarioidea. The relationships of clarioids to other families remains uncertain.[3]
Relationship to humans
Many clariids form a large part of artisanal fisheries. Clarias gariepinus is recognized as one of the most promising aquaculture species in Africa.[4]
The airbreathing capacity of these fish has allowed such fish as Clarias batrachus to be an invasive species in Florida.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.
- ^ a b c Devaere, Stijn; Adriaens, Dominique; Teugels, Guy G.; Verraes, Walter (2006). "Morphology of the cranial system of Platyclarias machadoi: interdependencies of skull flattening and suspensorial structure in Clariidae". Zoomorphology. 125 (2): 69. doi:10.1007/s00435-005-0012-7.
- ^ Sullivan, JP; Lundberg JG; Hardman M (2006). "A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences". Mol Phylogenet Evol. 41 (3): 636–62. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.044. PMID 16876440.
- ^ Skelton, Paul H.; Teugels, Guy G. (1991). "A review of the clariid catfishes (Siluroidei, Clariidae) occurring in southern Africa". Rev. Hydrobiol. Trop. 24 (3): 241–260.
This page was last edited on 8 April 2024, at 15:40