Ompok Explained

Ompok is a genus of fish in the family Siluridae found in lakes and large rivers throughout South and Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy

The genus is recognized to be paraphyletic. The species of Ompok have been grouped into species groups, such as the Ompok bimaculatus group (i.e. O. bimaculatus, O. malabaricus and O. miostoma), the O. eugeneiatus group (i.e. O. eugeneiatus and O. pinnatus), the O. hypophthalmus group (i.e. O. hypophthalmus, O. rhabdinurus and O. urbaini) and the O. leiacanthus group (O. fumidus, O. jaynei and O. leiacanthus).^{[1] [2] [3]} On the other hand, the monophyly of these species groups is not strong enough to reassign species to other genera.^[4]

The O. eugeneiatus group is likely to be more closely related to Kryptopterus than the other Ompok species.^[1] According to Ferraris O. eugeneiatus has been reclassified into Kryptopterus, however O. pinnatus has not.^[5]

Species

There are currently 28 recognized species in this genus:

• Ompok argestes Sudasinghe & Meegaskumbura, 2016^[6] (Wetzone butter catfish)
• Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch, 1794) (Butter catfish)
• Ompok binotatus H. H. Ng, 2002
• Ompok borneensis (Steindachner, 1901)
• Ompok brevirictus H. H. Ng & Hadiaty, 2009
• Ompok canio (F. Hamilton, 1822)
• Ompok ceylonensis (Günther, 1864)^[6] (Dryzone butter catfish)
• Ompok eugeneiatus (Vaillant, 1893) (Malay glass catfish)
• Ompok fumidus T. H. T. Tan & P. K. L. Ng, 1996
• Ompok goae (Haig, 1952)
• Ompok hypophthalmus (Bleeker, 1846)
• Ompok javanensis (Hardenberg, 1938)
• Ompok jaynei Fowler, 1905
• Ompok karunkodu H. H. Ng, 2013 ^[7]
• Ompok leiacanthus (Bleeker, 1853)
• Ompok malabaricus (Valenciennes, 1840) (Goan catfish)
• Ompok miostoma Vaillant, 1902
• Ompok pabda (F. Hamilton, 1822) (Pabdah catfish)
• Ompok pabo (F. Hamilton, 1822) (Pabo catfish)
• Ompok pinnatus H. H. Ng, 2003 (Long-fin glass catfish)
• Ompok platyrhynchus H. H. Ng & H. H. Tan, 2004
• Ompok pluriradiatus H. H. Ng, 2002
• Ompok rhadinurus H. H. Ng, 2003
• Ompok sabanus Inger & P. K. Chin, 1959
• Ompok siluroides Lacépède, 1803
• Ompok supernus H. H. Ng, 2008
• Ompok urbaini (P. W. Fang & Chaux, 1949)
• Ompok weberi (Hardenberg, 1936)

Notes and References

1. Bornbusch, A.H. (1995): Phylogenetic relationships within the Eurasian catfish family Siluridae (Pisces: Siluriformes), with comments on generic validities and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 115 (1): 1–46.
2. Ng, H.H. (2003): A review of the Ompok hypophthalmus group of silurid catfishes with the description of a new species from South-East Asia. Journal of Fish Biology, 62 (6): 1296–1311.
3. Ng, H.H. (2003): Ompok pinnatus, a new species of silurid catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Siluridae) from mainland Southeast Asia. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 116 (1): 47-51.
4. Ng, H.H. & Tan, H.H. (2004): Ompok platyrhynchus, a new silurid catfish (Teleostei: Siluridae) from Borneo. Zootaxa, 580: 1–11.
5. Ferraris, C.J.Jr. (2007): Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa, 1418: 1–628.
6. Sudasinghe, H. & Meegaskumbura, M. (2016): Ompok argestes, a new species of silurid catfish endemic to Sri Lanka (Teleostei: Siluridae). Zootaxa, 4158 (2): 261–271.
7. Ng, H.H. (2013): Ompok karunkodu, a new catfish (Teleostei: Siluridae) from southern India. Zootaxa, 3694 (2): 161–166.