ILLUSTRATED

This article is about the South American redtail catfish. For the Asian redtail catfish, see Hemibagrus wyckioides

The redtail catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, is a pimelodid (long-whiskered) catfish named for its red or orange caudal fin. In Venezuela it is known as cajaro and in Brazil it is known as pirarara It is the only extant species of the genus Phractocephalus. This fish originates from South America. Despite reaching a large size, this fish is a common aquarium fish

Extinct Phractocephalus

Although the redtail catfish is the only living representative of this genus, there are other members that date back to the upper Miocene. P. nassi was described in 2003, and is from Urumaco, Venezuela. Another undescribed member is known to exist from Acre, Brazil. This genus has a minimum age of about 13.5 million years

Distribution and Habitat

The redtail catfish is native to the Amazon, Orinoco, and Essequibo river basins of South America. It is found only in fresh water. This fish has also been introduced into Florida, but it is not established

Anatomy

The redtail catfish has a broad head with a wide mouth. Its body is primarily dark gray with small darker gray spots. The ventral surface is paler. The redtail catfish has three pairs of long barbels. A lateral white band starts at the caudal peduncle and runs anteriorly, tapering to end anywhere from midway along the body to just behind the operculum. The caudal fin is red or orange, giving the fish its common name. The juveniles may be more intensely colored

Upon maturity these fish can reach a length of 1.3 m (4 ft) total length. They have been known to reach over 44 kg 97 lb

Relationship to humans

Because of the large size this fish can reach, it is a minor game fish. The world record belongs to the Brazilian Jorge Masullo de Aguiar with 51.5 kg

It is said that the natives do not eat the meat of the Redtail catfish because it is black in coloration.  However, the redtail catfish has been hybridized with other fish such as the Tiger Shovelnose Pseudoplatystoma sp. through the use of hormones in attempts to create a viable food fish; these hybrid fish sometimes make it into the aquarium hobby under a variety of common names

The Senegal Bichir, Polypterus senegalus, also known as the Grey Bichir and Cuvier's Bichir, is sometimes called the dinosaur eel at many local pet chains - a misnomer, as the creature is not an eel. It is a prototypical species of the Polypterus genus, meaning most of its features are held across the genus

Appearance

The body is long and about as deep as it is wide. A serrated dorsal fin runs along most of the body until it meets the caudal fin. The pectoral fins attach just behind and below the gill openings and are the primary means of locomotion, providing a slow, graceful appearance. P. senegalus is smaller than its brethren, reaching about 35.5 cm (14").۱

The head is small and lizard-like with a gaping mouth and small eyes on either side. Since its eyesight is poor the bichir primarily hunts by smell. External nostrils protrude from the nose of the fish to enable this

The fish has a pair of primitive lungs instead of a swim bladder, allowing it to periodically gulp air from the surface of the water. In the aquarium bichirs can be observed dashing to the surface for this purpose. Provided the skin remains moist, the creature can remain out of the water for near indefinite periods of time

The bichir's skin serves as a particularly effective armor

Sexing

Sexes can be told apart by looking at the anal fins. Male bichirs would have a broader anal fin than the females. However, this is only true for mature males. Also, males seem to have thicker dorsal spines than the females, though normally, females tend to be larger than the males

Captivity

from emptying an aquarium of smaller fish is its speed; the pectoral fins only allow for slow cruising, and while it can achieve amazing bursts of speed, it can't catch fish of average speed. It should be noted, however, given enough time, any fish that can fit in the bichir's mouth will be eaten. It is ill advised to keep this fish with any other fish smaller than three inches

specimens can grow over 12" long, they should be kept in a 50+ gallon tank. There should be a gap of air in the tank allowing the bichir to gulp air, the tank can't be full of water. Bichirs are escape artists. Without a secure lid on an aquarium, the fish will eventually escape, and go quite a long distance before drying out and dying

Bichirs will also take dry foods such as shrimp pellets and occasionally cichlid pellets as well as flakes. They will readily accept frozen bloodworms, blackworms, and other frozen foods. They will also accept earthworms. Take care to wash the worms after collecting them, and make sure no pesticides have been recently spread

Porcupinefish

ماهیانی با اندازه کوچک تا متوسط هستند که طول آن‌ها تا یک متر می‌رسد. بدن آن‌ها پهن است و

 می‌تواند به میزان زیاد اتساع یابد و توسط خار‌هایی پوشیده شده‌است که ممکن است کاملاً طویل

 باشند

این خار‌ها قاعده بزرگ یا ریشه‌هایی در زیر پوست دارند، معمولاً خار‌های طویل قابل برخاستن هستند و

 دو ریشه دارند، در حالی که خار‌های کوتاه توسط قاعده‌های سه‌ریشه‌ای خود در حالت ایستاده تثبیت

 شده‌اند

سر این ماهیان وسیع و کند است، منفذ آبششی به صورت یک شکاف عمودی نسبتا کوچک دیده

 می‌شود که درست قبل از قاعده باله‌های سینه‌ای قرار گرفته‌است

معمولاً اندام بینی در داخل شاخک‌های کوچکی در جلوی چشمان بزرگ واقع شده‌است

دهان بزرگ، پهن و انتهایی است

دندان‌ها به خم جوش خورده‌اند تا یک ساختار منقار مانند خرد کننده را تشکیل دهند

آن‌ها فاقد شکاف میانی برای تقسیم آرواره‌های بالا و پایین به دو نیمه چپ و راست هستند

باله پشتی و مخرجی خار ندارند و کاملاً در عقب بدن قرار گرفته‌اند و معمولا همانند باله دمی گرد هستند

بیشتر شعاع‌های باله‌ها حالت شاخه شاخه دارند.غالبا قاعده باله‌ها ضخیم و گوشتی است، هیچ باله

 لگنی مشاهده نمی‌شود

خط جانبی واضح نیست، هیچ فلس متعارفی دیده نمی‌شود

رنگ

رنگ زمینه قهوه‌ای روشن تا قهوه‌ای است، اما رنگ خاکستری نیز چندان متداول نیست

معمولا بر روی رنگ زمینه نقاط، خطوط میله‌ای یا خال‌های قهوه‌ای تیره تا سیاه مشاهده می‌شود

نقاط سبز پر رنگ یا متمایل به زرد نیز ممکن است وجود داشته باشد

شکم این ماهیان سفید است و غالبا توسط نقاط زرد پررنگ پوشیده می‌شود

پشت یکی از گونه‌های پلاژیک (لجه‌زی) آبی تیره‌است و ماهیان جوان این گونه نیز که از یک مرحله

 پلاژیک عبور می‌کنند، ممکن است به رنگ آبی تیره باشند

بیشتر گونه‌ها کفزی هستند و در اطراف صخره‌ها یا آب سنگ‌های مرجانی به سر می‌برند، اما بعضی از

 گونه‌ها در آب‌های عمیق تر (۱۰۰متر)بر روی بستر‌های شنی یا گلی به طور متداول دیده می‌شوند و یک

 گونه به همراه ماهیان جوان گونه‌های دیگر پلاژیک هستند

آن‌ها به تغذیه از بی مهرگان کف زی با پوسته‌های سخت می‌پردازند و طعمهٔ خود را توسط آرواره‌های

 قوی خرد می‌کنند

خارپشت‌ماهیان در هنگام آشفتگی بدن خود را متسع می‌کنند و ظاهر خود را به صورت یک شکارچی

 بالقوه با بدنی بزرگ، توپ مانند و خار دار به نمایش میگذارند

بیشتر گونه‌ها یا همهٔ آن‌ها تخم‌های پلاژیک ایجاد می‌کنندو یک مرحله جوانی پلاژیک را نیز پشت سر

 میگذارند

هیچ اطلاعاتی در مورد زندگی دسته جمعی در بین ان‌ها وجود ندارد

به طور متعارف مصرف نمی‌شوند، اما شاید به صورت آرد ماهی مورد استفاده قرار گیرند.آن‌ها در تور‌های

 ترال کف به دام می‌افتند. گاهی اوقات نیز به صورت باد کرده و خشک(تاکسیدرمی شده) به عنوان یک

 موجود نادر به فروش میرسند

They are sometimes confused with pufferfish. Porcupinefish are closely related to pufferfishes but porcupinefish have heavier spines (hence the name porcupine) on their body. Also unlike the pufferfishes, they have only a single plate of fused teeth in each of the upper and lower jaws

Porcupinefish are medium to large sized fish, and are found in shallow temperate and tropical seas worldwide. A few species are found much further out from shore, where they can occur in large shoals of thousands of individuals. They are generally slow

Porcupinefish have the ability to inflate their body by swallowing water (or air) and become round like a ball. This increase in size (almost double vertically) reduces the range of potential predators to those with much bigger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines, which radiate outwards when the fish is inflated. Some species are poisonous, having a tetrodotoxin in their internal organs, such as the ovaries and liver. This neurotoxin is at least 1200 times more potent than cyanide, but some scientists believe it is produced by several types of bacteria that are somehow obtained from the fish's diet as fish bred in captivity are not poisonous, while others are skeptical of this theory. As a result porcupinefish have few predators, although adults are sometimes preyed upon by sharks and orcas. Juveniles are also preyed on by tuna and dolphins

Striped burrfish

It is distinguished from the porcupinefish by the shorter, less sharply pointed, and immovable spines which cover the somewhat spherical body. It can inflate its body by taking either air or water into a ventral extension of the stomach. Its color is olivaceous or brownish above and pale yellow below. The back and sides are irregularly striped with brownish, dusky, or black lines which are parallel to each other and which run obliquely downward. There are several large black spots on the sides, one just below the dorsal fin, and another behind the pectoral fin. Its maximum size is about 10 inches

Distribution

It is found mostly in the tropics from the West Indies to Florida, and is found along the Atlantic coast, sometimes as far north as Cape Cod, and regularly during the late summer and fall in the vicinity of New York

Habitat

It spawns off New Jersey in July. Juveniles are also found in the Chesapeake Bay in the summertime

Diet

It feeds on invertebrates such as oysters, barnacles, mussels, small crabs, and hermit crabs

Fishing technique

It has no commercial value but is occasionally taken by fishermen and stuffed as curio. Some end up in the aquarium pet trade. It occasionally is killed in gill nets and then tossed back by the fishermen. It is often washed ashore along the beach and is a treacherous object if stepped on by mistake with bare feet. Other species of burr and porcupinefish are found in the tropics

ocean sunfish

The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended

Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish, but because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate. Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish

Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, orcas and sharks will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan, but sale of their flesh is banned in the European Union. Sunfish are frequently, though accidentally, caught in gillnets, and are also vulnerable to harm or death from encounters with floating trash, such as plastic bags

A member of the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes pufferfish, porcupinefish and filefish, the sunfish shares many traits common to members of this order. It was originally classified as Tetraodon mola under the pufferfish genus, but it has since been given its own genus, Mola, with two species under it. The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the type species of the genus

Coelacanth

Coelacanth (pronounced /ˈsiːləkænθ/, adaptation of Modern Latin Cœlacanthus: cœl-us + acanth-us from Greek κοῖλ-ος [hollow] + ἄκανθ-α [spine]) is the common name for an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of gnathostomata known to date. The coelacanths, which are related to lungfishes and tetrapods, were believed to have been extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period, until the first Latimeria specimen was found off the east coast of South Africa, off the Chalumna River in 1938. They are, therefore, a Lazarus taxon. Since 1938, Latimeria chalumnae have been found in the Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, and in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. The second extant species, L. menadoensis, was described from Sulawesi, Indonesia in 1999 by Pouyaud et al. based on a specimen discovered by Erdmann in 1998 and deposited in Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). The first specimen of this species was only photographed at a local market by Arnaz and Mark Erdmann before being bought by a shopper. The coelacanth has no real commercial value, apart from being coveted by museums and private collectors. As a food fish the coelacanth is almost worthless as its tissues exude oils even when dead, imparting the flesh with a foul flavour

Queensland lungfish

The Queensland lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (also known as the Australian lungfish, Burnett salmon, and barramunda) is the sole surviving member of the family Ceratodontidae and order Ceratodontiformes. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. Endemic to Australia,  the Ceratodontidae is an ancient family belonging to the subclass Sarcopterygii, or fleshy-finned fishes

Fossil records of this group date back 380 million years, around the time when the higher vertebrate classes were beginning to evolve. Fossils of lungfish almost identical to this species have been uncovered in northern New South Wales, indicating that Neoceratodus has remained virtually unchanged for well over 100 million years, making it one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet

It is one of six extant representatives of the ancient air-breathing Dipnoi (lungfishes) that flourished during the Devonian period 413-365 million years ago and is the most primitive surviving member of this lineage. The five other freshwater lungfish species, four in Africa and one in South America, are very different morphologically to N. forsteri. The Queensland lungfish can live for several days out of the water, if it is kept moist, but will not survive total water depletion, unlike its African counterparts
 

The South American lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon, Paraguay, and lower Paraná River basins in South America. Notable as an obligate air-breather, it is the sole member of its family Lepidosirenidae. Relatively little is known about the South American lungfish

Additional common names of this species include American mud-fish and scaly salamander-fish.The immature lungfish is spotted with gold on a black background, in the adult, this fades to a brown or gray color.Its tooth-bearing premaxillary and maxillary bones are fused like in all Dipnoi. South American lungfishes also share an autostylic jaw suspension (where the palatoquadrate is fused to the cranium) and powerful adductor jaw muscles with the extant Dipnoi Like the African lungfishes, this species has an elongate, almost eel-like body. It may reach a length of 125 centimetres (4.1 ft). The pectoral fins are thin and threadlike, while the pelvic fins are somewhat larger, and set far back. The gills are greatly reduced and essentially non-functional in the adults

Juvenile lungfish feed on insect larvae and snails, while adults are omnivorous, adding algae and shrimps to their diet, crushing them with their heavily mineralized tooth-plates. The fishes' usual habitats disappear during the dry season, so they burrow into the mud and make a chamber about 30-50 cm down, leaving a couple of holes to the surface for air. During this aestivation, they produce a layer of mucus to seal in moisture and slow their metabolism down greatly

When the rainy season begins, they come out of hibernation and begin mating. The parents build a nest for the young, which resemble tadpoles and have four external gills. In order to enrich the oxygen in the nest, the male develops highly vascularized structures on the pectoral fins that release additional oxygen into the water. The young become air-breathing at about 7 weeks. Juveniles have external threadlike gills very much like those of newts

African lungfish       

the african lungfish has a pair of lungs connected to its oesphagus and can breathe air at the water surface.It has normal; but poorly developed; gills.like other lungfish species; the air breathing apparatus of african lungfishes is equivalent to the lungs of terrestrial vertebrates . they com to the surface to breathe about every 30 minutes

this species lives mostly in permanent waters; but if there is a long dry period and the water level drops; it can burrow and aestivate in much the same way as the south american lungfish . the other 3 aferican species live in swamps ancl must aestivate during the regular dry seasons

RANGE: E.  and c . africa

HABITAT  Rivers/ lakes

SIZE  2m (6 1/2 ft) size