| Heterobranchus Temporal range: Lower Pliocene - Recent | |
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| Heterobranchus isopterus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Clariidae |
| Genus: | Heterobranchus É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809 |
| Type species | |
| Heterobranchus bidorsalis É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809 | |
| Species | |
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6, see text. | |
Heterobranchus is a genus of airbreathing catfishes native to Africa. However, H. palaeindicus, an extinct species of the genus, was discovered in the Siwalik Hills, India, dating to the Lower Pliocene.
Depending on the exact species involved, fish of this genus reach from 64 to 150 cm (25 to 59 in) with H. longifilis being the largest strict freshwater fish in southern Africa, reaching 150 cm (59 in) SL and weighing up to 55 kg (121 lb).
Species
This genus contains four recent and two fossil species:
Recent species
- Heterobranchus bidorsalis É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809 (African Catfish)
- Heterobranchus boulengeri (Pellegrin, 1922)
- Heterobranchus isopterus (Bleeker, 1863) —found in West Africa—
- Heterobranchus longifilis Valenciennes, 1840 (Vundu; Sampa)
Fossil species
- †Heterobranchus austriacus (Thenius, 1952)
- †Heterobranchus palaeindicus (Lydekker, 1886)
References
- ^ Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Heterobranchus". FishBase. December 2011 version.
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Heterobranchus | |
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