The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to Africa. They typically live in fast-flowing highland streams, and are small fish, no more than in length. Some species are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, with the male possessing a rosette on the gill covers that is absent in the females. Other species are

neotenic Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans compared ...

, retaining larval features into adulthood.

Classification

About 31 species are in five genera: * Kneriinae ** ''

Cromeria ''Cromeria'' is a small genus of fish in the family Kneriidae found in fresh waters in the Sudan, Mali, and Guinea in the Nile and Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basi ...

'' ** ''

Grasseichthys ''Grasseichthys gabonensis'' is an extremely small (around 2 cm) fish native to the Ivindo and Central Congo basins of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At ...

'' ** ''

Kneria ''Kneria'' is a genus of small fish in the family Kneriidae. All 13 species in this genus are restricted to Africa. Named in honor of Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner (1810-1869) Species FishBase lists 13 species: * '' Kneria angolensis'' ...

'' ** ''

Parakneria ''Parakneria'' is a genus of fish in the family Kneriidae, with 14 species, all of which are restricted to Africa. Species There are 14 species: * '' Parakneria abbreviata'' ( Pellegrin, 1931) * '' Parakneria cameronensis'' ( Boulenger, 1909) ...

'' * Phractolaeminae ** ''

Phractolaemus The hingemouth (''Phractolaemus ansorgii'') is a small freshwater fish that is found only in west central Africa, the sole member of the subfamily Phractolaeminae of the family Kneriidae. The mouth can extend like a small trunk, thus the name, a ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q990619 Taxa named by Albert Günther * Ray-finned fish families de:Ohrenfische