Results for “family”

This beautiful little fish is not actually a goby, it's a member of the Eleotridae family, commonly known as sleepers or gudgeon. Members of this family lack the fused pectoral fins of true gobies. This species is one of the smallest and most attractive in the family, and makes an ideal resident of the planted community tank....

Boulengerella differs from Ctenolucia, the only other genus currently contained in the family Ctenolucidae, by a series of derived features including possession of 87-124 (vs. 45-50) lateral line scales, presence of a strongly (vs. weakly) developed fleshy appendage at the tip of the snout and absence (vs. presence) of fleshy flaps on the lower jaw. Within the order Characiformes the family Ctenoluciidae is also distinguished by a set o...

This species is rare in the aquarium hobby though its name is often misapplied to the closely-related I. crocodilus. It can be told apart from congeners by the following characters: dorsal and anal fins without dark markings, with a light brown bar in breeding males; ventral surface light brown; throat white, occasionally with a few brown spots; ridges of head bones weakly serrated or not serrated, depending on the bone. The family Indostomidae currently contains just a single genus with three species of which I. paradoxus is the type. It was raised alongside both family...

There also exists a sister-group relationship between the Melanotaeniidae and Malagasy family Bedotiidae, which may seem surprising given their respective modern-day distributional patterns. The precise origin and subsequent dispersal of the two families has been the subject of debate, with some palentologists suggesting that Madagascar's freshwater fishes derived froma trans-oceanic dispersal during the Cenozoic Era, but the most compelling arguments currently indicate a freshwater radiation which occurred during the Mezozoic break-up of Gondwana.

The tyre track eel is also referred to as the white-spotted spiny eel. A member of the spiny eel family, which range across tropical Asia and Africa, Mastacembelus armatus is one of the more common species available to the hobby, along with the peacock eel ((Macrognathus siamensis)and the fire eel (Mastacembelus erythrotaenia). These species are all from Asia but there are some members of the family from Africa that are occasionally seen for sale. These majority of these species are from the ...

A member of the spiny eel family, which range across tropical Asia and Africa, Mastacembelus erythrotaenia is one of the more common species available to the hobby, along with the peacock eel (Macrognathus siamensis)and the tyre-track eel (Mastacembelus favus). These species are all from Asia but there are some members of the family from Africa that are occasionally seen for sale. These majority of these species are from the Afromastacembelus genus, with the most common representative being the...

This species is also known by the vernacular name "ripsaw catfish" (U.S.) and was often referred to by the scientific name M. irwini, now considered a junior synonym of M. uranoscopus, in older literature. Within the family Doradidae the genus Megalodoras is considered most closely-related to Lithodoras, Centrodoras and Platydoras, respectively. Members of the family Doradidae can be distinguished from all other Siluriformes by possession of a unique infranuchal scute, a dermal bon...

There are currently 32 genera and over 80 species included in the family Pimelodidae (including Pimelodus), making it the second largest and one of the most diverse amongst catfish. Most experts agree however, that a full systematic revision of the family is needed, as little information about the phylogenetic (evolutionary relatedness) relationships between the various genera exists. Taxonomy information at the species level is also basic at best. It's therefore likely that at least some o...

There are currently 32 genera included in the family Pimelodidae (including Pimelodus), making it the second largest and one of the most diverse amongst catfish. However most experts agree that a full systematic revision of the family is needed, as little information about the phylogenetic (evolutionary relatedness) relationships between the various genera exists. Taxonomy information at the species level is also basic at best. It's therefore likely that at least some of the Pimelodids will...

There are currently 32 genera and over 80 species included in the family Pimelodidae (including Pimelodus), making it the second largest and one of the most diverse amongst catfish. However most experts agree that a full systematic revision of the family is needed, as little information about the phylogenetic (evolutionary relatedness) relationships between the various genera exists. Taxonomy information at the species level is also basic at best. It's therefore likely that at least some of...

The genus Ageneiosus was at one point classified in the family Ageneiosidae alongside the genus Tetranematichthys, but this was not accepted by all authors. The grouping remains poorly-studied with the last major revision having been conducted by Watson (1990) in his unpublished dissertation, in which A. inermis was included under the currently synonymous name A. brevifilis. It can be separated from the majority of the genus (except A. marmoratus) by possession of a truncate caudal fin, and from...

This species may also be seen on sale as 'Guyana slopehead catfish' 'dolphin catfish' or 'hammerhead catfish'. The attractive juvenile patterning is largely lost as the fish grow but this nevertheless remains an impressive predatory species for the larger aquarium. The genus Ageneiosus was at one point classified in the family Ageneiosidae alongside the genus Tetranematichthys, but this was not accepted by all...

This species is among the few members of the family to have been exported for the aquarium hobby. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: head length 17.7-26.5% of standard length (SL); head width 25.4-28.7% SL; body depth at anus 13.0-17.0% SL; caudal peduncle depth 8.1-10.1% SL; interorbital di...

This species is among the few members of the family to have been exported for the aquarium hobby. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: base of...

This species has been exported for the aquarium hobby and ranks among the smaller members of the family. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: head length 22.0-28.6% of standard length (SL); caudal peduncle depth 8.8-10.7% of SL; anal-fin base length 15.2-19.1% of SL; eye diameter 12-16% of head length (HL); nasal barbel length 57 92% of HL; posession of 3-4 serrae on the posterior edge ofspine; body patterning mottled with indistinct ...

This species is among the few members of the family to have been exported for the aquarium hobby. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: base ofmeasures 17.1-19.2% of standard length (S...

This species is among the few members of the family to be exported for the aquarium hobby though is by no means common. It can be differentiated from a...

This species is among the smaller members of the family. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: caudal peduncle length 16.1-19.8% of standard length (SL); caudal peduncle depth 6.5-9.3% SL; length of adipose-fin base 25.6-29.5% SL; interorbital distance 42.0-46.0% of head length (HL), eye diameter 13.0-20.0% HL; length of nasal barbel 44.0-66.0% HL; lateral margins of the head appear straight when viewed from above; possession of 0-5 se...

This species is among the few members of the family to be exported for the aquarium hobby and we've also seen it on sale under various names such as 'orange-banded stone catfish', 'orange micro bumblebee catfish', 'Burmese orange mini bee catfish' or more simply 'wasp catfish'. Though the majority of forms are yellowish to orange in colouration there appears to exist a bright red variant which to date we've only seen in photos.

Rare in the hobby, the bowfin is a stunning specimen fish for the aquarist with the means to house it properly. It is the sole remaining species in the family Amiidae, an ancient and primitive group that is related to the garfish. It possesses the ability to breathe atmospheric air, via an enormous, highly vascularised accessory breathing organ that extends throughout the entire body cavity. The gills are stiffened in order to prevent them collapsing outside the water and, provided it's kep...