''Cranoglanis'' is the only

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of armorhead catfishes.

Taxonomy

''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranoglanis'' along with a new species, ''Cranoglanis sinensis''. Otto Koller (1926) described a new species, ''Pseudotropichthys multiradiatus''. George Myers (1931) synonymized ''Pseudotropichthys'' with ''Cranoglanis'', as well as described the family Cranoglanididae. Jayaram (1955) synonymized ''C. multiradiatus'' and ''C. sinensis'' under ''C. bouderius''. More recently, ''C. bouderius'' and ''C. multiradiatus'' have been treated as separate species. ''C. henrici'', described by Léon Vaillant in 1893, is often overlooked, but is a valid species. In 2005, ''Cranoglanis'' had been considered 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 "unispec ...

genus by some, with ''C. bouderius'' as the only valid species. The Cranoglanididae are closely related to the North American family

Ictaluridae The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, mad ...

. These two families are

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

in the superfamily Ictaluroidea.

Species

The five currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Cranoglanis bouderius ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' is a species of armorhead catfish found in Kwangsi Province, China and Vietnam. It grows to a length of 43.0 cm (16.9 inches) SL and to . It is considered to be a fine food fish in the Zhujiang River Valley in ...

'' ( J. Richardson, 1846) * '' Cranoglanis caolangensis'' V. H. Nguyễn, 2005 * '' Cranoglanis henrici'' ( Vaillant, 1893) * ''

Cranoglanis multiradiatus ''Cranoglanis multiradiatus'' is a species of armorhead catfish found in China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 ...

'' (

Koller Koller or Köller is a Germanic surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander von Koller (1813-1890), Austro-Hungarian military officer * Alexandru Koller (born 1953), Romanian football player * Alice Koller (1925-2020), American wr ...

, 1926) * '' Cranoglanis songhongensis'' V. H. Nguyễn, 2005

Distribution and habitat

These fish are found in large

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does in ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

s in China and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

Appearance and anatomy

These fish have short

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

s. The caudal fins are deeply forked. The eyes are large. Their bodies are scaleless, though rough, bony plates are located on the tops of their heads. These fish have four pairs of barbels.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q653843 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Catfish of Asia Catfish genera

Taxonomy

Species

Distribution and habitat

Appearance and anatomy

See also

References