''Heteropneustes'' is a

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 ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

es, the airsac catfishes, native to

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. This genus is

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 ...

in the family Heteropneustidae. Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve as lungs that extend from the

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

chamber. Their dorsal fins are short and have no spine. Their pectoral fins have an associated venom gland, so the fish are considered dangerous. They are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

; distinct pairing is possible.

Species

Up to six species in this genus are recognized: * ''

Heteropneustes fossilis ''Heteropneustes fossilis'', also known as Asian stinging catfish or fossil cat, is a species of airsac catfish found in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bhutan. It has also been introduced to the Tigris Ri ...

'' (

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter *Alexandre Bloch (1857–1919), French painter *Alfred Bloch ( ...

, 1794) (stinging catfish) * ''

Heteropneustes fuscus ''Heteropneustes'' is a genus of catfishes, the airsac catfishes, native to Asia. This genus is monotypic in the family Heteropneustidae. Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve ...

'' Plamoottil, 2021 (Travancore black stinging catfish) * ''

Heteropneustes kemratensis ''Heteropneustes kemratensis'', the airsac catfish, is a species of catfish native to Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. This species grows to a standard length of . Ubon Ratchathani province's Khemarat in northeastern Thailand is a type locality. ...

'' ( Fowler, 1937) * ''

Heteropneustes longipectoralis ''Heteropneustes'' is a genus of catfishes, the airsac catfishes, native to Asia. This genus is monotypic in the family Heteropneustidae. Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve ...

'' Rema Devi & Raghunathan, 1999 * ''

Heteropneustes nani ''Heteropneustes'' is a genus of catfishes, the airsac catfishes, native to Asia. This genus is monotypic in the family Heteropneustidae. Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve ...

Hossain Hussein, Hossein, Hussain, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein, Hussin, Hoessein, Houcine, Hocine or Husain (; ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-N (), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "handsome" or " ...

, Sarker, Sharifuzzaman &

Chowdhury Chowdhury (also: Choudhuri, Chaudhuri, Choudhury, Chaudhri, Chaudhary) is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminen ...

, 2013 * ''

Heteropneustes microps ''Heteropneustes microps'' is a species of airsac catfish possibly endemic to Sri Lanka, though records from India have been made. This species grows to a total length of . This fish is a component of local commercial fisheries, and is found ...

'' ( Günther, 1864) FishBase does not list ''H. fuscus'' while the Catalog of Fishes considers ''H. microps'' a synonym of ''H. fossilis''.

References

Catfish genera Freshwater fish genera Freshwater fish of South Asia Taxa named by Johannes Peter Müller Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{catfish-stub