SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM CLASSIFICATION OF BONYTONGUE SPECIES

[WyldFya]

The rules of taxonomy require that the first described species trump all subsequent synonyms. My guess is that, after Cuvier's description of O. bichirrhosum in 1829, someone else, erroneously thinking they had discovered a new species, described O. vandelli, which was subsequently discovered to be nothing but a synonym of O. bicirrhosum.

Yup

 

[WyldFya]

Hey, fishbase apparently has three other purportedly valid species listed in the genus Scleropages:

S. aureus
S. legendrei
S. macrocephalus

All hail from Indonesia and were first described in 2003 by Pouyard, Sudarto, and Teugels.

Does anyone know anything about these?

These are the new names for the three other types of Asian arowana.
S. Augeus is the gold or red-tail golden
S. Legendrei is the red, super red arowana
S. Macrocephalus is the "silver variety" asian Arowana

Is this news to anyone else???

 

[WyldFya]

S. Formosus is now the Green arowana, asian bony tongue and malayan arowana.

 

[Jesse]

Thanks for the info, WF. I wasn't aware that the various Asian arowana varieties were now recognized as separate species.

Assuming the taxonomic validity of this change, the current breakdown of the two families would be as follows:

Family Arapaimatidae includes two single-species genera: Arapaima and Heterotis.
Arapaima gigas (arapaima or piracucu)
Heterotis niloticus (African arowana/bony-tongue)

Family Osteoglossidae includes two genera: Scleropages and Osteoglossum.

Genus Scleropages includes six species:
S. formosus (Asian green arowana)
S. aureus (Asian gold and RTG arowana)
S. legenderei (Asian red/super red arowana)
S. macrocephalus (Asian silver arowana)
S. leichardti (Australian arowana, leichardti arowana)
S. jardini (Australian arowana, jardini arowana)

Genus Osteoglossum includes two species:
O. bicirrhosum (silver arowana)
O. ferrarai (black arowana)

 

[WyldFya]

Thanks for the info, WF. I wasn't aware that the various Asian arowana varieties were now recognized as separate species.

Assuming the taxonomic validity of this change, the current breakdown of the two families would be as follows:

Family Arapaimatidae includes two single-species genera: Arapaima and Heterotis.
Arapaima gigas (arapaima or piracucu)
Heterotis niloticus (African arowana/bony-tongue)

Family Osteoglossidae includes two genera: Scleropages and Osteoglossum.

Genus Scleropages includes six species:
S. formosus (Asian green arowana)
S. aureus (Asian gold and RTG arowana)
S. legenderei (Asian red/super red arowana)
S. macrocephalus (Asian silver arowana)
S. leichardti (Australian arowana, leichardti arowana)
S. jardini (Australian arowana, jardini arowana)

Genus Osteoglossum includes two species:
O. bicirrhosum (silver arowana)
O. ferrarai (black arowana)

That is correct.

 

[xrtg]

cool....now we can classify the aisan arowans more accurately.

thanks for the information. but wait......asian silver arowana????? tought silvers hail from South america?

 

[Jesse]

cool....now we can classify the aisan arowans more accurately.

thanks for the information. but wait......asian silver arowana????? tought silvers hail from South america?

That's just to distinguish the silver colored varieties of Asian arowana, i.e., what was all formerly known as S. formosus, now S. macrocephalus. The commonly known "silver arowana" is still O. bicirrhosum and comes from South America.

To simplify matters, Asian arowanas were prior to 2003 lumped in a single species, Scleropages formosus. Now, there are four species of Asian arowana: S. formosus, S. aureus, S. legenderei, and S. macrocephalus.

 

[xrtg]

That's just to distinguish the silver colored varieties of Asian arowana, i.e., what was all formerly known as S. formosus, now S. macrocephalus. The commonly known "silver arowana" is still O. bicirrhosum and comes from South America.

To simplify matters, Asian arowanas were prior to 2003 lumped in a single species, Scleropages formosus. Now, there are four species of Asian arowana: S. formosus, S. aureus, S. legenderei, and S. macrocephalus.

where can i find more information on this? i'd like to read more about it

 

[Jesse]

where can i find more information on this? i'd like to read more about it

I have no idea. I'll look though. All I've seen is the wikipedia stuff WyldFya posted in the other thread. I do know that fishbase.org, a generally reputable source relied upon by ichthyologists and taxonomists alike, confirms the description of three new species of Asian arowana by Pouyard, Sudarto, and Teugels in 2003. That's enough proof for me, although I'd like to find out more details. I would suggest combing the ichthyological journals for some 2003 article by Pouyard, Sudarto, and Teugels that describes S. aureus, S. legenderei, and S. macrocephalus as separate species rather than merely varieties of S. formosus.

 

[Jesse]

I FOUND IT!:

Scleropages formosus color varieties are separate species