Heterobranchus
Encyclopedia
Heterobranchus is a genus
of catfish
es (order
Siluriformes) of the family
Clariidae.
H. longifilis may also be known as the Vundu.
H. bidorsalis originates from the Nile, Niger
, Upper Volta
, Guinea
and Senegal
Rivers, and the Chad
basin. H. boulengeri is distributed in Lake Moero, Lukonzolwa River, and upper Congo River
in Zimbabwe
. H. isopterus is known from West Africa, from Senegal to Ghana
. H. longifilis is known from the Nile, (Niger
, Senegal
, Congo
) and upper and middle Zambezi Rivers. H. palaeindicus, the only known extinct species of the genus, was discovered in the Siwalik Hills
, India
, dating to the Lower Pliocene
.
H. longifilis is the largest freshwater species in southern Africa, reaching 150 centimetre
s (59 in
) SL
and weighing up to 55.0 kilogram
s (121 lb). H. bidorsalis may reach a similar length but only weighs up to 50.0 kg (110 lb). H. boulengeri is known to reach 64.0 cm (25.2 in) TL
. H. isopterus reaches 90.0 cm (35.4 in) TL.
H. longifilis is an uncommon species which inhabits large rivers. It occurs in large deep rivers within the mainstream or in deep pools and lakes. Most active at night, it feeds on any available food, including invertebrate
s and insect
s when small, then fish and other small vertebrate
s when large. It scavenges off large carcasses and offal from riverside villages. It can live for 12 or more years.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
es (order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Siluriformes) of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Clariidae.
H. longifilis may also be known as the Vundu.
H. bidorsalis originates from the Nile, Niger
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
, Upper Volta
Volta River
The Volta is a river in western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. It has three main tributaries—the Black Volta, White Volta and Red Volta...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
Rivers, and the Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
basin. H. boulengeri is distributed in Lake Moero, Lukonzolwa River, and upper Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. H. isopterus is known from West Africa, from Senegal to Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. H. longifilis is known from the Nile, (Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
) and upper and middle Zambezi Rivers. H. palaeindicus, the only known extinct species of the genus, was discovered in the Siwalik Hills
Siwalik Hills
The Sivalik hills is a mountain range of the outer Himalayas also known as Manak Parbat in ancient times. Shivalik literally means 'tresses of Shiva’. This range is about long enclosing an area that starts almost from the Indus and ends close to the Brahmaputra, with a gap of about between the...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, dating to the Lower Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
.
H. longifilis is the largest freshwater species in southern Africa, reaching 150 centimetre
Centimetre
A centimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of . Hence a centimetre can be written as or — meaning or respectively...
s (59 in
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
) SL
Fish measurement
Fish measurement refers to the measuring of the length of individual fish and of various parts of their anatomy. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.-Overall length:...
and weighing up to 55.0 kilogram
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
s (121 lb). H. bidorsalis may reach a similar length but only weighs up to 50.0 kg (110 lb). H. boulengeri is known to reach 64.0 cm (25.2 in) TL
Fish measurement
Fish measurement refers to the measuring of the length of individual fish and of various parts of their anatomy. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.-Overall length:...
. H. isopterus reaches 90.0 cm (35.4 in) TL.
H. longifilis is an uncommon species which inhabits large rivers. It occurs in large deep rivers within the mainstream or in deep pools and lakes. Most active at night, it feeds on any available food, including invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s when small, then fish and other small vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s when large. It scavenges off large carcasses and offal from riverside villages. It can live for 12 or more years.
Species
Heterobranchus includes the following species:- Heterobranchus bidorsalisHeterobranchus bidorsalisHeterobranchus bidorsalis is a catfish found in Africa. The common name of the catfish is African clariid catfish. It is closely related to the Vundu, which is well-known among fishermen.-Description:...
- African Clariid Catfish Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809 - Heterobranchus boulengeriHeterobranchus boulengeriHeterobranchus boulengeri is a freshwater catfish found in Africa. It is closely related to the Vundu, which is well-known among fishermen.-Description:Heterobranchus boulengeri has short barbels. Its gill arches extend anteriorly...
(PellegrinJacques PellegrinJacques Pellegrin was a French zoologist.Pellegrin was born in Paris, and studied natural history. In 1894 he became assistant chairman of zoology at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, replacing Léon Vaillant .He got his doctorates in medicine and science...
, 1922) - Heterobranchus isopterus (BleekerPieter BleekerPieter 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....
, 1863) - Heterobranchus longifilis - Vundu ValenciennesAchille ValenciennesAchille Valenciennes was a French zoologist.Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. Valenciennes' study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology...
, 1840 - Heterobranchus palaeindicus (Lydekker, 1886) †ExtinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...