''Chitala'' is a genus of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

of the family

Notopteridae The family Notopteridae contains 11 species of osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes, commonly known as featherbacks and knifefishes. These fishes live in freshwater or brackish environments in Africa and West, South, East and Southeast Asia. W ...

. This genus contains six species, some of which are important in

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

and the aquarium industry. They are commonly known as the Asian knifefishes or featherbacks. They are native to freshwater in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. The largest fish in the genus (and also the family) is ''Chitala lopis'', which grows up to a length of . Other well-known species are the clown knifefish (''C. ornata'') and the Indochina knifefish (''C. blanci'').

Species

There are six recognized species in this genus. In the past some of these (notably ''C. ornata'') were included in ''C. chitala'',Roberts, T.R. (1992). ''Systematic revision of the old world freshwater fish family Notopteridae.'' Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 2(4):361-383. resulting in considerable confusion, especially in the fishing and aquarium industries.Seriously Fish:
Chitala chitala.
' Retrieved 24 May 2014 * '' Chitala blanci'' (

François d'Aubenton-Carafa François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire ...

, 1965) (Indochina featherback or royal knifefish) * '' Chitala borneensis'' ( Bleeker, 1851) * '' Chitala chitala'' ( F. Hamilton, 1822) (Indian featherback) * '' Chitala hypselonotus'' (Bleeker, 1852) * †'' Chitala lopis'' (Bleeker, 1851) * '' Chitala ornata'' ( J. E. Gray, 1831) (Clown featherback or clown knifefish)

References

Notopteridae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Osteoglossiformes-stub