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
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 ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Pristolepididae, and a member of the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Anabantiformes
The Anabantiformes , is an Order (biology), order of bony fish (Teleostei) proposed in 2009. They are collectively known as labyrinth fish, are an Order (biology), order of air-breathing freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish with three sub ...
. It is native to freshwater habitats 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 ...
and India's Western Ghats.
Their relationship to other members of the order was previously uncertain, with the 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
'' placing the family outside the order, alongside the Nandidae and Pristolepididae, in an unnamed and unranked but
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
clade. However, they are now placed in the anantiform suborder Nandoidei. Alongside the Nandidae, they are commonly known as "Asian leaffish".
Potentially the oldest member of the family is the
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
Intertrappean Beds
The Intertrappean Beds are a Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene geologic unit in India. These beds are found as interbeds between Deccan Traps layers, including the slightly older Lameta Formation. They consist a number of different subgroups ...
. This formation was previously dated to the latest
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
, but is now thought to only date to the
Early Eocene
In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...
. However, the attribution of this genus to this family is questionable.
Species
There are currently eight recognized species in this genus:
* '' Pristolepis fasciata'' (
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Pristolepis grootii'' (
Britz
Britz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Neukölln.
History
The village of ''Britzig'' was first mentioned in 1273. It was incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. It is known for being the sit ...
Baby
In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...
, 2012
The fossil '' Palaeopristolepis'' contains two species from the same formation and locality, ''P. feddeni'' and ''P. chiplonkari''.
References
6. Plamoottil, M., 2014. Pristolepis pentacantha, a new fish species (Perciformes: Pristolepidae) from Kerala, India. Int'l. J. Scientific Res. 3(5):552-554.
7. Plamoottil, M. & Abraham,. N.P., Discovery of Pristolepis malabarica after one and a half centuries. Journal of Advanced Zoology, 34 (1). 28-35.
8. Plamoottil, M. and T. Win, 2017. Pristolepis pauciradiatus, a new fish species (Perciformes:Pristolepididae) from Myanmar. Bioscience Discovery (Ref. 116438)
9. Plamoottil, M. (2013). ‘Rediscovery of Pristolepis marginata Jerdon (Teleostei: Percomorpha: Pristolepididae) after one and a half century’. J. An. Vet. & Fish Sci., 7. 16-20.
Ray-finned fish generaFish of IndiaPristolepididae
{{Rayfinned-fish-stub