Family Polypteridae - Bichirs | ||||
Order | : | Polypteriformes | ||
Class | : | Cladistii | ||
No. in FishBase | : | Genera : 2 | Species : 14 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes | ||
Environment | : | Fresh : Yes | Brackish : Yes | Marine : No | ||
Division | : | Primary freshwater | ||
Aquarium | : | some | ||
First Fossil Record | : | lower Tertiary upper Eocene | Ref. Berg, L.S. 1958 | |
Remark | : | Confined to the freshwaters of Africa. Body elongated or anguilliform covered with thick bonelike rhombic scales sheathed with ganoin. Symmetric caudal fin; dorsal with one series of finlets formed by a spinous ray supporting one small membrane. Pectorals with lobed base covered with scales. Swim bladder bilobed, left lobe less developed than right; located ventral to and attached to esophagus; serves as accessory respiratory organ. With functional gills; young with branched external gills which disappear in adults. Pelvics lacking in Calamoichthys calabaricus; body elongate and with pelvics in Polypterus. About 1.2 m maximum length but most species are below 30 cm. Nine of the ten species occur in the Zaire river basin. | ||
Etymology | : | Greek, poly = a lot of + Greek, pteron = wing ( Ref. 45335). | ||
Reproductive guild | : | nonguarders | ||
Typical activity level | : | sluggish | ||
Main Ref. | : | Nelson, J.S. 1994 | ||
Coordinator | : | |||
Deep Fin Classification | : | Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Cladistia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Polypteriformes | | | Polypteridae |
Important recommendation:
The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.
Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.
But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.
Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.
This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).
The list ordered as follows:
Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.
Scientifc name | Status | Senior/Junior synonym | Combination |
---|---|---|---|
Polypterus bichir Lacepède, 1803 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus bichir bichir Lacepède, 1803 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus lapradei Steindachner, 1869 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus bichir lapradei Steindachner, 1869 | synonym | junior | change in rank |
! Polypterus bichir lapradii Steindachner, 1869 | synonym | junior | change in rank |
! Polypterus lapradii Steindachner, 1869 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus senegalus Cuvier, 1829 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus senegalus senegalus Cuvier, 1829 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus senagalus Cuvier, 1829 | synonym | senior | original |
! Polypterus senegallus Cuvier, 1829 | synonym | senior | original |
! Polypterus senegalensis Steindachner, 1870 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus arnaudii Duméril, 1870 | synonym | junior | original |
! Polypterus arnaudi Duméril, 1870 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus senegalus meridionalis Poll, 1941 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus bichir (non Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1802) | misapplied | misapplied | misapplied |
Polypterus lapradei (non Steindachner, 1869) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus delhezi (non Boulenger, 1899) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus endlicherii Heckel, 1847 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus endlicherii endlicherii Heckel, 1847 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus endlicheri Heckel, 1847 | synonym | senior | original |
! Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri Heckel, 1847 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus bichir (non Lacepède, 1803) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus senegalensis (non Steindachner, 1870) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus palmas Ayres, 1850 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus palmas palmas Ayres, 1850 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus palmus Ayres, 1850 | synonym | senior | original |
Polypterus buettikoferi Steindachner, 1891 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus palmas buettikoferi Steindachner, 1891 | synonym | junior | change in rank |
! Polypterus büttikoferi Steindachner, 1891 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus lowei Boulenger, 1911 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus retropinnis lowei Boulenger, 1911 | synonym | junior | change in rank |
Polypterus bichir (non Lacepède, 1803) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus congicus Boulenger, 1898 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus endlicherii congicus Boulenger, 1898 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus endlicheri concicus Boulenger, 1898 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus endlicheri congicus Boulenger, 1898 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus bichir katangae Poll, 1941 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus endlicheri (non Heckel, 1847) | misapplied | misapplied | misapplied |
Polypterus lapradi (non Steindachner, 1869) | misapplied | misapplied | misapplied |
Polypterus lapradii (non Steindachner, 1869) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus delhezi (non Boulenger, 1899) | misapplied | misapplied | misapplied |
Polypterus weeksii Boulenger, 1898 | accepted | senior | original |
! Polypterus weeksi Boulenger, 1898 | synonym | senior | original |
Polypterus schoutedeni Pellegrin, 1923 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus delhezi Boulenger, 1899 | accepted | senior | original |
! Polypterus ansorgei delhezi Boulenger, 1899 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus retropinnis Vaillant, 1899 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus retropinnis retropinnis Vaillant, 1899 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
! Polypterus retropinus Vaillant, 1899 | synonym | senior | original |
Polypterus palmas (non Ayres, 1850) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus lowei (non Boulenger, 1911) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus ornatipinnis Boulenger, 1902 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus weeksii (non Boulenger, 1898) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus ansorgii Boulenger, 1910 | accepted | senior | original |
! Polypterus ansorgei Boulenger, 1910 | synonym | senior | original |
! Polypterus ansorgei ansorgei Boulenger, 1910 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus polli Gosse, 1988 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus palmas polli Gosse, 1988 | synonym | senior | change in rank |
Polypterus palmas congicus Daget, 1962 | ambiguous | homonym | original |
Polypterus palmas (non Ayres, 1850) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Polypterus teugelsi Britz, 2004 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus mokelembembe Schliewen & Schäfer, 2006 | accepted | senior | original |
Polypterus retropinnis (non Vaillant, 1899) | misapplied | misapplied | original |
Erpetoichthys calabaricus Smith, 1865 | accepted | senior | original |
Calamoichthys calabaricus (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
Herpetoichthys calabaricus (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
! Calamichthys calabarica (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
! Calamichthys calabaricus (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
! Calanichthys calabaricus (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
! Erpetoichthys calabaris (Smith, 1865) | synonym | senior | new |
Erpetoichthys robbianus Smith, 1865 | synonym | junior | original |
Polypterus erpetoideus Smith, 1865 | ambiguous | other | original |