''Cranoglanis'' is the only

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 ...

armorhead catfish ''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes. Taxonomy ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogl ...

es.

Taxonomy

''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the U ...

. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranoglanis'' along with a new species, ''Cranoglanis sinensis''. Otto Koller (1926) described a new species, ''Pseudotropichthys multiradiatus''. George Myers (1931) synonymized ''Pseudotropichthys'' with ''Cranoglanis'', as well as described the family Cranoglanididae. Jayaram (1955) synonymized ''C. multiradiatus'' and ''C. sinensis'' under ''C. bouderius''. More recently, ''C. bouderius'' and ''C. multiradiatus'' have been treated as separate species. ''C. henrici'', described by Léon Vaillant in 1893, is often overlooked, but is a valid species. In 2005, ''Cranoglanis'' had been considered a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus by some, with ''C. bouderius'' as the only valid species. The Cranoglanididae are closely related to the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n family

Ictaluridae The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madto ...

. These two families are

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

in the superfamily

Ictaluroidea The Ictaluroidea is a superfamily of catfish. As of 2000, the position of the Ictaluroidea within the Siluriformes order is not certain. Taxonomy This superfamily consists of the following families: * Family Ictaluridae, native to North America ...

Species

The five currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Cranoglanis bouderius ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' is a species of armorhead catfish found in Kwangsi Province, China and Vietnam. It grows to a length of 43.0 cm (16.9 inches) SL and to . It is considered to be a fine food fish in the Zhujiang River Valley in Ch ...

'' ( J. Richardson, 1846) * ''

Cranoglanis caolangensis ''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes. Taxonomy ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogl ...

'' V. H. Nguyễn, 2005 * ''

Cranoglanis henrici ''Cranoglanis henrici'' is a species of armorhead catfish from China and Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of ...

'' ( Vaillant, 1893) * ''

Cranoglanis multiradiatus ''Cranoglanis multiradiatus'' is a species of armorhead catfish found in China with questionable records from Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Sou ...

'' ( Koller, 1926) * ''

Cranoglanis songhongensis ''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes. Taxonomy ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogl ...

'' V. H. Nguyễn, 2005

Distribution and habitat

These fish are found in large

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Appearance and anatomy

These fish have short

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

s. The

caudal fins Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spine (zoology), spines or Ray (fish fin anatomy), rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bon ...

are deeply forked. The eyes are large. Their bodies are scaleless, though rough, bony plates are located on the tops of their heads. These fish have four pairs of

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q653843 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Catfish of Asia Catfish genera

Taxonomy

Species

Distribution and habitat

Appearance and anatomy

See also

References