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''Kurtus'' is a 
In addition to the egg hook, the kurtid gas bladder is enclosed in a tubular bony structure evolved from the ribs. In both species, the back is elevated into a hump shape.
Despite their unusual reproductive habits, little is known about these species. Historically they have proven very difficult to keep alive in aquaria, although recent success with ''K. gulliveri'' has been achieved by Tokyo Sea Life Park in Japan.
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 percomorph fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...
es, called the nurseryfishes, forehead brooders, or incubator fish, native to fresh, brackish
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
and coastal marine waters ranging from India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, through southeast Asia to New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and northern Australia. ''Kurtus'' is currently the only known genus in the family Kurtidae, one of two families in the order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
Kurtiformes. They are famous for carrying their egg clusters on hooks protruding from the forehead ( supraoccipital) of the males, although this only has been documented in ''K. gulliveri'' and available evidence strongly suggests this is not done by ''K. indicus'' (where the hook likely also is too small to carry embryos).Berra, Tim (2003). ''Nurseryfish, Kurtus gulliveri (Perciformes: Kurtidae), from northern Australia: redescription, distribution, egg mass, and comparison with K. indicus from southeast Asia.'' Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters 14(4): 295-306. Females do not have a hook.
In addition to the egg hook, the kurtid gas bladder is enclosed in a tubular bony structure evolved from the ribs. In both species, the back is elevated into a hump shape.
Despite their unusual reproductive habits, little is known about these species. Historically they have proven very difficult to keep alive in aquaria, although recent success with ''K. gulliveri'' has been achieved by Tokyo Sea Life Park in Japan.
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Kurtus gulliveri'' Castelnau, 1878 (nurseryfish) * '' Kurtus indicus''Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include:
A–F
* (1859-1914), French rabbi
* Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur
* Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter
* (born 1972), German motor jour ...
, 1786 (Indian humphead)
References
Kurtidae Ray-finned fish genera {{Kurtiformes-stub