Kurtus gulliveri Castelnau, 1878
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
Kurtus gulliveri, the nurseryfish, is a species of fish in the family Kurtidae native to fresh and brackish waters in southern New Guinea and northern Australia. This species is famous for its unusual breeding strategy where the male carries the egg cluster on a hook protruding from the forehead (supraoccipital). Females do not have a hook. It feeds on crustaceans (especially prawn and shrimp), small fish and insect larvae. This species is well regarded as food. The specific name honours a "Mr Gulliver" who collected the type, thought most likely to refer to Thomas Allen Gulliver (1847-1931) who worked on Australia's a post and telegraph services and who lived near the Norman River, Gulf of Carpentaria where he collected natural history specimens and where the type of this species was collected.
Wikipedia contributors, Kurtus gulliveri; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:57:01.766876+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Kurtus gulliveri Castelnau, 1878
- Name authority
- Castelnau, 1878
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Apogoniformes
- Family
- Kurtidae
- Genus
- Kurtus
- 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
- orderApogoniformes
- familyKurtidae Bleeker, 1859
- genusKurtus Bloch, 1786
- speciesKurtus gulliveri Castelnau, 1878
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Kurtus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Kurtus indicus Bloch, 1786 | KurtidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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. (1878). Australian fishes. New or little known species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, v. 2 (pt 3): 225–248, Pls. 2–3. 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:3RG9G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.