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Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Open encyclopedia reference

Heteropneustes fossilis, also known as Asian stinging catfish or fossil cat, is a species of airsac catfish found in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bhutan. It has also been introduced to the Tigris River Basin in western Iran.

Wikipedia contributors, Heteropneustes fossilis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:48:01.710821+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)
Name authority
(Bloch, 1794)
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Siluriformes
Family
Heteropneustidae
Genus
Heteropneustes
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderSiluriformes
  11. familyHeteropneustidae Hora, 1936
  12. genusHeteropneustes Müller, 1840
  13. speciesHeteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Heteropneustes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Heteropneustes longipectoralis Rema Devi & Raghunathan, 1999HeteropneustidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Heteropneustes kemratensis (Fowler, 1937)HeteropneustidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Heteropneustes microps (Günther, 1864)HeteropneustidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Heteropneustes nani Hossain, Sarker, Sharifuzzaman & Chowdhury, 2013HeteropneustidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 5 records assigned to Heteropneustidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Saccobranchus singio (Hamilton, 1822) (Hamilton, 1822)synonym
Silurus biserratus Swainson, 1839 Swainson, 1839synonym
Silurus singio Hamilton, 1822 Hamilton, 1822synonym
Saccobranchus fossilis (Bloch, 1794) (Bloch, 1794)synonym
Saccobranchus microcephalus Günther, 1864 Günther, 1864synonym
Silurus fossilis Bloch, 1794 Bloch, 1794synonym
Silurus laticeps Swainson, 1838 Swainson, 1838synonym

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=281072 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3LC74. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.