Hydrocynus vittatus Castelnau, 1861
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
Hydrocynus vittatus, the African tigerfish, tiervis or ngwesh is a freshwater fish distributed throughout much of Africa. This predatory fish is generally a piscivore but it has been observed leaping out of the water and catching barn swallows in flight.
Wikipedia contributors, Hydrocynus vittatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:50:26.546995+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hydrocynus vittatus Castelnau, 1861
- Name authority
- Castelnau, 1861
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Characiformes
- Family
- Alestidae
- Genus
- Hydrocynus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCharaciformes
- suborderCharacoidei
- familyAlestidae Cockerell, 1910
- genusHydrocynus Cuvier, 1816
- speciesHydrocynus vittatus Castelnau, 1861
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hydrocynus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocynus brevis (Günther, 1864) | AlestidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hydrocynus forskahlii (Cuvier, 1819) | AlestidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hydrocynus tanzaniae Brewster, 1986 | AlestidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hydrocinus vittatus Castelnau, 1861 Castelnau, 1861 | synonym |
| Hydrocynus lineatus (Schlegel, 1863) (Schlegel, 1863) | synonym |
| Hydrocyon lineatus Schlegel, 1863 Schlegel, 1863 | synonym |
| Hydrocyon vittatus (Castelnau, 1861) (Castelnau, 1861) | synonym |
| Hydrocion lineatus Schlegel, 1863 Schlegel, 1863 | synonym |
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.
- Castelnau, F. L. (1861). Mémoire sur les poissons de l’Afrique australe. Paris, i–vii + 1–78. 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:3N6VP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.