Kurtus indicus Bloch, 1786
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 indicus, the Indian humphead, is a species of fish in the family Kurtidae native to fresh, brackish, and marine waters of the coastal regions of southern Asia from India to southeast China and Indonesia. It resembles the closely related K. gulliveri, but is far smaller, only reaching a length of 12.6 cm (5 in). Although it has been suggested that the male carries the egg cluster on a hook protruding from the forehead (as known from K. gulliveri), available evidence strongly suggests this is not the case in K. indicus: Out of several thousand examined, none carried eggs in this manner and the male's hook is likely also too small. The female lacks the hook entirely. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries.
Wikipedia contributors, Kurtus indicus; 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 indicus Bloch, 1786
- Name authority
- Bloch, 1786
- 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: yes · 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 indicus Bloch, 1786
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 gulliveri Castelnau, 1878 | 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.
- Bloch, M. E. (1786). Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische. Berlin., v. 2: i–viii + 1–160, Pls. 145–180. 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:3RG9H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.