''Cheilobarbus'', commonly known as sawfins, is a small

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related fishes. The fishes in this genus are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

of South Africa.

Taxonomy

''Cheilobarbus'' was first proposed as a taxon, 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 "unisp ...

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of the genus ''Barbus'', by the Scottish military surgeon and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Andrew Smith in 1841 when he described ''Barbus (Cheilobarbus) capensis'' from the Olifants River on the western coast of South Africa. This genus is included in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Smiliogastrinae Smiliogastrinae is a subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cyprinidae, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related fishes. The fishes in this genus are found in Africa and Asia and are commonly referred to ...

within the family Cyprinidae.

Etymology

''Cheilobarbus'' combines ''cheilos'', meaning "lip", with the genus name ''Barbus'', Smith described ''B. capensis'' as having "full and firm" lips.

Species

''Cheilobarbus'' contains the following species: * '' Cheilobarbus capensis'' (A. Smith, 1841) (Cape whitefish) * '' Cheilobarbus serra'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1864) (Sawfin) Both species are

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

, like ''

Pseudobarbus ''Pseudobarbus'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. The type species is Burchell's redfin (''P. burchelli''). The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''pseudes'' ("false") and the Latin word ''barbus'' ("beard", i ...

'' redfins, from which they were separated.

Characteristics

''Cheilobarbus'' fishes are among the largest of the South African barb species and reach

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

s greater than . They have a relatively longer snout than related genera with an elongated

lacrimal bone The lacrimal bones are two small and fragile bones of the facial skeleton; they are roughly the size of the little fingernail and situated at the front part of the medial wall of the orbit. They each have two surfaces and four borders. Several bon ...

. They have an inferior mouth which has large, firm lips and there are two pairs of

barbels In fish anatomy and turtle anatomy, a barbel is a slender, whisker like sensory organ near the mouth (sometimes called whiskers or tendrils). Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the z ...

Adults show a reddening on the crown and on a scale row above the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s during the

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

season. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

is over or a little to the rear of the

pelvic fins Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

. The last unbranched dorsal fin ray is slightly or clearly serratde along its posterior margin, and this is followed by eight branched rays. There are three unbranched and five or six branched fin rays in the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

Distribution and habitat

''Cheilobarbus'' fishes are endmeic to the Western Cape, the Cape whitefish is found in the Breede and

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

drainages and the sawfin is endmeic to the Olifants River system. These fishes prefer deeper parts of large rivers as adults, including impoundments. ''Cheilobarbus'' species reproduce in the summer and form large groups that spawn together on rocky bottoms.

References

{{wikispecies Freshwater fish of South Africa Fish described in 1841 Smiliogastrinae Cyprinidae genera