Arapaiminae is a subfamily of freshwater osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes belonging to the family Osteoglossidae. It includes the South American arapaimas of the Amazon and Essequibo basins and the African arowana (Heterotis niloticus) from the watersheds of the Sahelo-Sudanese region, Senegal, Gambia, and parts of Eastern Africa.[1] This subfamily is sometimes raised to the rank of family, as Arapaimidae.[2][3] A commonly used synonym is Heterotidinae,[4] but according to the ICZN, Arapaiminae has priority.[2]
Arapaimines, along with other osteoglossomorphs, are of phylogenetic and evolutionary interest due to their trans-oceanic distribution, excellent fossil record, and position as one of the oldest living teleost lineages.[3] The type-species of the group, Arapaima gigas, is an important South American food source and charismatic representative of the region.[5] Both Arapaima and Heterotis are cultured for food in their respective countries due to their heartiness and meat, and the arapaima is a prized sport-fish, being the largest truly freshwater fish.[6]
^ abFroese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2021). "Osteoglossidae" in FishBase. July 2021 version.
^ abCite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abHastings, P. A.; Walker, Jr., H. J.; Galland, G. R. (2014). Fishes: a guide to their diversity. Oakland, California: University of California Press. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-0-520-28353-4.
^Nelson, Joseph S.; Grande, Terry C.; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118342336. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
^Stewart, J. D. (2013a). "Re-description of Arapaima agassizii (Valenciennes), a rare fish from Brazil (Osteoglossimorpha: Osteoglossidae)". Copeia. 2013 (1): 38–51. doi:10.1643/CI-12-013. S2CID 84207464.
^Vitorino, R. C.; Oliverira, C.; Margarido, V. P.; Venere, P. C. (2015). "Genetic diversity of Arapaima gigas (Schinz, 1822) (Osteoglossimorpha: Arapaimidae) in the Araguaia-Tocantins basin estimated by ISSR marker". Neotropical Ichthyology. 13 (3): 557–568. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20150037.
Arapaiminae is a subfamily of freshwater osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes belonging to the family Osteoglossidae. It includes the South American...
basins of South America. Arapaima is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae within the family Osteoglossidae. They are among the world's largest...
in the subfamily Arapaiminae, than the South American, Asian, and Australian arowanas in the subfamily Osteoglossinae (Arapaiminae is sometimes considered...
commonly known as bonytongues. The family contains two extant subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. The extinct Phareodontinae...
also known as bony tongues (the latter name is now often reserved for Arapaiminae). In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is...
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