Osteoglossidae Explained

Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. They are commonly known as bonytongues. The family contains two extant subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera.^[1] The extinct Phareodontinae are known from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene.^[2]

Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that originated some time during the Cretaceous, and are placed in the actinopterygiid order Osteoglossiformes. As traditionally defined, the family includes several extant species from South America, one from Africa, two from Asia, and two from Australia.^[3] Although currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the tropics, the group was much more widespread during the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with genera known from North America and Europe, including marine taxa such as Brychaetus. An indeterminate marine osteoglossid is known to have inhabited the seas around Greenland in the Early Paleocene.^[4] The earliest known osteoglossid is Cretophareodus from the middle Campanian of the Dinosaur Park Formation, Canada, but a potentially older genus may be Chanopsis from the Albian of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The following taxa are known from the family:^{[5] [6] [7]}

• Family Osteoglossidae Bonaparte, 1831
  • Genus ?†Chanopsis Casier, 1961
  • Genus ?†Chauliopareion Murray and Wilson, 2005 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)
  • Genus ?†Singida Greenwood & Patterson, 1967 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)
  • Subfamily Arapaiminae Bonaparte, 1846
    • Genus Arapaima J. P. Müller, 1843
    • Genus Heterotis Rüppell, 1828
    • Genus ?†Joffrichthys Li and Wilson, 1996 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)^[8]
    • Genus †Sinoglossus Su, 1986
    • Genus †Thrissopterus Heckel, 1856
  • Subfamily Osteoglossinae Bonaparte, 1831
    • Genus Osteoglossum Cuvier, 1829
    • Genus Scleropages Günther, 1864
  • Subfamily †Phareodontinae Taverne, 1979
    • Genus †Brychaetoides Bonde, 2008^[9]
    • Genus †Brychaetus Woodward, 1901
    • Genus †Cretophareodus Li, 1996
    • Genus ?†Foreyichthys Taverne, 1979
    • Genus †Furichthys Bonde, 2008
    • Genus ?†Heterosteoglossum Bonde, 2008
    • Genus †Macroprosopon Capobianco, Zouhri & Friedman, 2024^[10]
    • Genus †Magnigena Forey & Hilton, 2010
    • Genus †Monopteros Volta, 1796
    • Genus †Musperia Sanders, 1934
    • Genus ?†Opsithrissops Daniltshenko, 1968
    • Genus †Phareoides Taverne, 1973 (likely synonymous with Phareodus)
    • Genus †Phareodus Leidy, 1873
    • Genus †Phareodusichthys Gayet, 1991
    • Genus †Ridewoodichthys Taverne, 2009
    • Genus †Taverneichthys Kumar, Rana & Paliwal, 2005^[11]
    • Genus †Xosteoglossid Bonde, 2008

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Arapaim availability. 1 February 2022. Britannica.
2. Hilton . Eric J. . Lavoué . Sébastien . 2018-10-11 . A review of the systematic biology of fossil and living bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha (Actinopterygii: Teleostei) . Neotropical Ichthyology . en . 16 . e180031 . 10.1590/1982-0224-20180031 . 1679-6225.
3. Book: Allen. G. R.. Midgley. S. H.. Allen. M.. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. 2002. Western Australia Museum. 0-7307-5486-3. Perth. 56–58.
4. Capobianco . Alessio . Foreman . Ethan . Friedman . Matt . 2021 . Cavin . Lionel . A Paleocene (Danian) marine osteoglossid (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha) from the Nuussuaq Basin of Greenland, with a brief review of Palaeogene marine bonytongue fishes . Papers in Palaeontology . en . 7 . 1 . 625–640 . 10.1002/spp2.1291 . 2056-2799. 2027.42/167033 . free .
5. Hilton . Eric J. . Carpenter . Jeffrey . 2020 . Bony-Tongue Fishes (Teleostei: Osteoglossomorpha) from the Eocene Nanjemoy Formation, Virginia . Northeastern Naturalist . 27 . 1 . 25–34 . 10.1656/045.027.0102 . 1092-6194.
6. Bonde . Niels . 2008 . Osteoglossomorphs of the marine Lower Eocene of Denmark – with remarks on other Eocene taxa and their importance for palaeobiogeography . Geological Society, London, Special Publications . en . 295 . 1 . 253–310 . 10.1144/SP295.14 . 0305-8719.
7. Paleontological Data Reveals Unexpected Biogeographic Histories of Extant Organisms: Bonytongue Fishes (Teleostei: Osteoglossomorpha) as a Case Study . 2021 . Thesis . en-US . Alessio . Capobianco.
8. Murray . Alison M . Zelenitsky . Darla K . Brinkman . Donald B . Neuman . Andrew G . 2018-02-09 . Two new Palaeocene osteoglossomorphs from Canada, with a reassessment of the relationships of the genus †Joffrichthys, and analysis of diversity from articulated versus microfossil material . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 183 . 4 . 907–944 . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx100 . 0024-4082.
9. Bonde . Niels . 2008 . Osteoglossomorphs of the marine Lower Eocene of Denmark – with remarks on other Eocene taxa and their importance for palaeobiogeography . Geological Society, London, Special Publications . en . 295 . 1 . 253–310 . 10.1144/SP295.14 . 0305-8719.
10. Capobianco . Alessio . Zouhri . Samir . Friedman . Matt . 2024-04-17 . A long-snouted marine bonytongue (Teleostei: Osteoglossidae) from the early Eocene of Morocco and the phylogenetic affinities of marine osteoglossids . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae015 . 0024-4082.
11. Kumar . K. . Rana . R. S. . Paliwal . B. S. . 2005 . OSTEOGLOSSID AND LEPISOSTEID FISH REMAINS FROM THE PALEOCENE PALANA FORMATION, RAJASTHAN, INDIA: PALEOCENE FISH REMAINS FROM RAJASTHAN . Palaeontology . en . 48 . 6 . 1187–1209 . 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00519.x.