''Pseudobarbus'' is a

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

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 ...

in 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

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

Burchell's redfin Burchell's redfin (''Pseudobarbus burchelli''), also known as the Tradouw redfin, Tradou redfin or Breede redfin, is an African freshwater fish species in the family Cyprinidae. ''P. burchelli'' is the type species of its genus ''Pseudobarbus'', a ...

(''P. burchelli''). The

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''pseudes'' ("false") and the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''barbus'' ("beard", in reference to the

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 cyprini ...

s of

barb Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

s). This genus contains some (and might contain all) of the South African redfins. It was originally proposed as a

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 ...

, but has since been found worthy of recognition as a full genus. This genus is restricted to

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

; all of its species were formerly placed in ''

Barbus ''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is the common barbel, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily Ba ...

'', the genus of typical

s and their relatives. One

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

was originally described as ''P. leonhardi'' – this, however, was a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an fish for which the genus was erroneously proposed anew. It has since turned out to be nothing other than the barbel '' B. peloponnesius''.

Species and systematics

''Pseudobarbus'' was placed in the

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

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 ...

" Barbinae by those that recognize that group, but if not included in the

Cyprininae Cyprinae is a subfamily of largely freshwater ray-finned fishes, one of ten subfamilies belonging to the family Cyprinidae. This family comprises the carps, minnows, barbs and related fishes. Genera Cyprinae contains the following recognised ex ...

outright it might – like the other small African barbs – belong to an as yet unnamed subfamily.de Graaf, Martin; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Samallo, Johannis & Sibbing, Ferdinand A. (2007): Evolutionary origin of Lake Tana's (Ethiopia) small ''Barbus'' species: indications of rapid ecological divergence and speciation. '' Anim. Biol.'' 57(1): 39–48. (HTML abstract) ''Pseudobarbus'' contains the following species: * ''

Pseudobarbus afer The Eastern Cape redfin (''Pseudobarbus afer'') is an African freshwater fish species in the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, this appears to be a species complex rather than a single species. It is endemism, endemic to the Sundays River, Su ...

'' ( Peters, 1864) (Eastern Cape redfin) * ''

Pseudobarbus asper The smallscale redfin (''Pseudobarbus asper'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae which is endemic to South Africa. It is threatened by habitat destruction and the impact of invasive species. Description Its meristic data are that th ...

'' ( Boulenger, 1911) (Smallscale redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus burchelli'' (

A. Smith A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of s ...

, 1841) (Burchell's redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus burgi'' (Boulenger, 1911) (Berg River redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus kubhekai'' Zarei, Mathebula & Chakona, 2025 * '' Enteromius pallidus'' (A. Smith, 1841) (Goldie barb) * '' Pseudobarbus phlegethon'' (

Barnard Barnard is a surname of Old English origin, derived from the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon given name "Beornheard". It is composed of two elements: "Beorn," meaning "young warrior" or "bear," and "heard," meaning "hardy," "brave," or "strong." In some ...

, 1938) (Fiery redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus quathlambae'' (Barnard, 1938) (Maluti redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus senticeps'' (

J. L. B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyology, ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought t ...

, 1936) * '' Pseudobarbus skeltoni'' Chakona & Swartz, 2013 (Giant redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus swartzi'' Chakona & Skelton, 2017 * '' Pseudobarbus tenuis'' (Barnard, 1938) (Slender redfin) * '' Pseudobarbus verloreni'' Chakona, Swartz & Skelton, 2014 (Verlorenvlei redfin) Some South African "redfin"

were previously placed in ''

'', mainly due to a lack of

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

and

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are introduced by an inaccuracy inherent to the system Economy * Systematic trading, a way of defining trade goals, risk control ...

study of that huge " wastebin genus". They formed a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

distinct from the traditional ''Pseudobarbus'' and were more

plesiomorphic In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades. Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, an ...

. Certainly, they did not belong in the typical

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q149340 Cyprinidae genera Taxa described in 1841 Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist)

Species and systematics

References

Further reading

External links