Hepsetus

Hepsetus
Hepsetus lineatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Hepsetidae
C. L. Hubbs, 1939
Genus: Hepsetus
Swainson, 1838
Type species
Salmo odoe
Bloch, 1794
Synonyms

Hydrocyonoides Castelnau, 1861
Sarcodaces Günther, 1864

Hepsetus is a genus of African fishes, the African pikes or African pike characins, in the order Characiformes. It is the sole genus in the family Hepsetidae. It was long believed that only a single widespread species existed, H. odoe,[1] but studies in 2011–2013 have shown that this species is restricted to parts of West and Central Africa. The well-known species of southern Africa, including Kafue River, is Hepsetus cuvieri.[2] These predatory fish reach up to 44 cm (17 in) in length.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nelson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Zengeya, T. A.; Decru, E. & Vreven, E. (2011). "Revalidation of Hepsetus cuvieri (Castelnau, 1861) (Characiformes: Hepsetidae) from the Quanza, Zambezi and southern part of the Congo ichthyofaunal provinces". Journal of Natural History. 45 (27–28): 1723–1744. doi:10.1080/00222933.2011.560724.
  3. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Hepsetus". FishBase. December 2020 version.