''Pao'' 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 ...

of mostly

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

pufferfish Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

with one species (''P. leiurus'') also occurring in

brackish water 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 estuary ...

. They are found in

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 ...

. Until 2013, its species were generally placed in ''

Tetraodon ''Tetraodon'' is a genus in the pufferfish family (Tetraodontidae) found in freshwater in Africa. It is the type genus of the family and historically included numerous other species; several Asian species were moved to the genera '' Dichotomycter ...

''.

Species

There are currently 15 recognized species in this genus:Kottelat, M. (2013)
The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries.
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. 27: 1–663.''Eschmeyer, W. N., R. Fricke, and R. van der Laan (18 February 2017).
Catalog of Fishes.
' Retrieved 18 February 2017. * ''

Pao abei ''Pao abei'' is a species of freshwater pufferfish from the Mekong, Chao Phraya and Mae Klong river basins in Southeast Asia. It is named after Japanese ichthyologist Tokiharu Abe. They are molluscivores, using the beak-like teeth to break open ...

'' ( T. R. Roberts, 1998) * '' Pao baileyi'' ( Sontirat, 1989) (Hairy puffer) * '' Pao barbatus'' (Roberts, 1998) * ''

Pao bergii ''Pao bergii'' is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is a tropical freshwater fish native to the Kapuas River drainage of Borneo in Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitu ...

'' (

Popta Canna Maria Louise Popta (31 May 1860 – 13 June 1929)L.B. Holthuis, Biography i1820-1958, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie page 82 (in Dutch). was a Dutch biologist. Born in Breda, Popta was one of the first women to enrol as a student at ...

, 1905) * '' Pao brevirostris'' ( Benl, 1957) * ''

Pao cambodgiensis ''Pao cambodgiensis''Kottelat, M. (2013)The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries. ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplemen ...

'' ( Chabanaud, 1923) * '' Pao cochinchinensis'' (

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1866) * ''

Pao fangi ''Pao fangi'' is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is a tropical freshwater species native to Vietnam. It was classified as a member of the genus ''Tetraodon'' (or ''Tetrodon'', which is the genus that the species was initi ...

'' ( Pellegrin & Chevey, 1940) * ''

Pao hilgendorfii ''Pao hilgendorfii'', sometimes known as Hilgendorf's puffer, is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is a tropical freshwater species native to the Mahakam basin in Borneo. The species was originally described as a member of ...

'' (

, 1905) * ''

Pao leiurus ''Pao leiurus''Kottelat, M. (2013)The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries. ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. ...

'' ( Bleeker, 1850) * ''

Pao ocellaris ''Pao ocellaris'' is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is a tropical freshwater species native to Asia, where it is known from the Mae Klong River in Thailand to the lower Mekong basin in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. It was ...

'' ( Klausewitz, 1957) * ''

Pao palembangensis ''Pao palembangensis''Kottelat, M. (2013)The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries. ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Suppleme ...

'' ( Bleeker, 1852) * ''

Pao palustris ''Pao brevirostris'' is a species of pufferfish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is a tropical freshwater species native to Asia, where it is known from the Mekong basin and the Chao Phraya drainage. It inhabits marshes and swamps with dense aqua ...

'' ( Saenjundaeng, Vidthayanon & Grudpun, 2013) * ''

Pao suvattii ''Pao suvattii'',Kottelat, M. (2013)The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries. ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement N ...

'' ( Sontirat, 1989) * '' Pao turgidus'' ( Kottelat, 2000)

References

Tetraodontidae Freshwater fish of Asia Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Maurice Kottelat {{tetraodontiformes-stub