The fourspine leaffish (''Afronandus sheljuzhkoi''), is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of in the

Nandidae Nandidae, the leaffish, are a family of small freshwater fishes which some authorities classify in the order Anabantiformes, but which the 5th edition of '' Fishes of the World'' classifies the family and the related Badidae and Pristolepididae ...

native to rivers and streams in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Although placed in the family

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, most recent authorities place ''Afronandus'' in

Polycentridae Leaffishes are small fishes of the family Polycentridae. According to FishBase, it only includes the genera '' Monocirrhus'' and '' Polycentrus'' from fresh and brackish water in tropical South America. Although included in the Asian leaffish fam ...

.Collins, R.A., R. Britz, and L. Ruber (2015). Phylogenetic systematics of leaffishes (Teleostei: Polycentridae, Nandidae). J Zoolog Syst Evol Res 53(4). The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the collector of the type, Leo Sheljuzhko (1890–1969), a Ukrainian-German

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

who sent the type to Meinken. This species grows to a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . This species is the only known member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

References

Nandidae Fish described in 1954 Taxa named by Herman Meinken Freshwater fish of Africa Freshwater fish of West Africa {{Rayfinned-fish-stub