Notopteridae
Encyclopedia
The family Notopteridae contains eight species of osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes, commonly known as featherbacks and knifefishes. They are small fishes living in freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 or brackish environments in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and South-east Asia.

With the denotation of "knifefish", the Notopterids should not be confused with Gymnotiforms
Gymnotiformes
The Gymnotiformes are a group of teleost bony fishes commonly known as the Neotropical or South American knifefishes. They have long bodies and swim using undulations of their elongated anal fin...

, the electric knifefishes. Although their manner of swimming is similar, the two groups are not closely related.

A few of the larger species, especially Chitala chitala, are food fish and occasionally aquarium pets. The name is from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 noton meaning "back" and pteron meaning "fin".

Description

Featherbacks have slender, elongated, bodies, giving them a knife-like appearance. The caudal fin is small and fused with the anal fin, which runs most of the length of the body. Where present, the dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

 is small and narrow, giving rise to the common name of "featherback". The fish swims by holding its body rigid and rippling the anal fin to propel itself forward or backwards.

Notopterids have specialized swim bladders. The organ extends throughout the body and even into the fins in some cases. Although the swim bladder is not highly vascularised, it can absorb oxygen from air and also functions to produce sound by squeezing air through a narrow passage into the pharynx
Pharynx
The human pharynx is the part of the throat situated immediately posterior to the mouth and nasal cavity, and anterior to the esophagus and larynx. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx , the oropharynx , and the laryngopharynx...

.

At least some species prepare nests and guard the eggs until they hatch.

Species

There are ten species in four genera:

Family Notopteridae
  • Genus Chitala
    Chitala
    Chitala is a genus of fish in the Notopteridae family. This genus contains 6 species, in which there are important aquaculture and aquarium species. They are commonly known as the Asian knifefishes or featherbacks....

    Fowler
    Henry Weed Fowler
    Henry Weed Fowler was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Pennsylvania.He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan...

    , 1934
    • Chitala blanci (d'Aubenton, 1965) (Indochina featherback)
    • Chitala borneensis
      Chitala borneensis
      Chitala borneensis or the Indonesian featherback is fish of the genus Chitala found in Sumatra, Indonesia, Borneo and Malay Peninsula....

      (Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....

      , 1851)
    • Chitala chitala
      Chitala chitala
      Chitala chitala or clown knifefish is a fish of the genus Chitala found in India and other countries in Southeast Asia. Main foods are smaller fishes and fish pellets . They have been introduced to some areas of the United States. As an aquarium fish, they are popular in the United States and...

      (F. Hamilton
      Francis Buchanan-Hamilton
      Dr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist while living in India.The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.-Ham. is applied to...

      , 1822)
      (Clown knifefish)
    • Chitala hypselonotus
      Chitala hypselonotus
      Chitala hypselonotus is a fish of the genus Chitala found in Sumatra and Borneo....

      (Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....

      , 1852)
    • Chitala lopis
      Chitala lopis
      Chitala lopis or the Giant Featherback is a fish of the genus Chitala found in Southeast Asia....

      (Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker
      Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....

      , 1851)
      (Giant featherback)
    • Chitala ornata
      Chitala ornata
      The clown knifefish, clown featherback fish or spotted knifefish, Chitala ornata, is a nocturnal tropical fish with a long knife-like body.-Appearance:...

      (J. E. Gray
      John Edward Gray
      John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....

      , 1831)
      (Clown featherback)
  • Genus Notopterus Lacépède, 1800
    • Notopterus notopterus
      Notopterus notopterus
      The Bronze Featherback or Notopterus notopterus is a fish in family Notopteridae found in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other regions of Asia. It is the only member of its genus.This fish appears in a stamp of the Kingdom of Laos.-Uses:...

      (Pallas
      Peter Simon Pallas
      Peter Simon Pallas was a German zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia.- Life and work :Pallas was born in Berlin, the son of Professor of Surgery Simon Pallas. He studied with private tutors and took an interest in natural history, later attending the University of Halle and the University...

      , 1769)
      (Bronze featherback)
  • Genus Papyrocranus
    Papyrocranus
    Papyrocranus is a genus of fishes in family Notopteridae found in many regions Africa.- Species :* Papyrocranus afer * Papyrocranus congoensis...

    Greenwood
    Humphry Greenwood
    Humphry Greenwood FRS FIBiol was an English ichthyologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985...

    , 1963
    • Papyrocranus afer
      Papyrocranus afer
      Papyrocranus afer or Reticulate knifefish is a genus of fishes in family Notopteridae found in many regions Africa....

      (Günther, 1868) (Reticulate knifefish)
    • Papyrocranus congoensis
      Papyrocranus congoensis
      Papyrocranus congoensis is a genus of fishes in family Notopteridae found in Congo basin of Africa....

      (Nichols
      John Treadwell Nichols
      John Treadwell Nichols was an American ichthyologist.-Biography:Nichols was born as son of John White Treadwell Nichols in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1906 he studied vertebrate zoology at Harvard College where he graduated to Bachelor of Arts...

       & La Monte, 1932)
  • Genus Xenomystus Günther, 1868
    • Xenomystus nigri
      Xenomystus nigri
      Xenomystus nigri, the African Brown Knife Fish or African Knife Fish, is the only species in the genus Xenomystus of the family Notopteridae. This fish inhabits coastal river basins in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Benin and Cameroon...

      (Günther, 1868) (African knifefish)
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