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Family Kurtidae - Nurseryfishes
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Order |
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Class |
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Actinopterygii |
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No. in FishBase |
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Genera : 1 | Species : 2 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes |
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Environment |
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Fresh : Yes |
Brackish : Yes |
Marine : Yes |
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Division |
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Peripheral/diadromous |
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Aquarium |
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none |
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First Fossil Record |
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Remark |
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Small family of two species in the genus Kurtus. Kurtus indicus occurs in coastal areas from the Coromandel Coast of southeast India to China, Indonesia, and Borneo. It occasionally enters estuaries, but is mostly found in marine waters. Kurtus gulliveri is found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea and is more likely to occur in large, turbid rivers and estuaries.
Kurtus has a compressed, oblong body with small cycloid scales and a rudimentary anterior lateral line. The opercular bones are very thin. Four
spines are present at the angle of the preopercle. The dorsal fin is single with a reduced anterior spinous part followed by soft rays. The back is
elevated into a hump. The mouth is large with villiform jaw teeth. The anal fin is long with two anal spines. Kurtus indicus has 31-32 soft anal rays, and K. gulliveri has 44-47 soft anal rays. The pelvic fin has one spine and five rays. The caudal fin is deeply forked. Expanded ribs completely enclose the posterior portion of the swim bladder and partially enclose the anterior portion. The most distinctive feature of this genus is the presence in males of an occipital hook directed anteriorly and downward nearly forming a closed ring. This hook is formed from the supraoccipital and modified dorsal spines; it is used to carry eggs. Females lack a hook. Young males show only a slight protuberance that eventually enlarges as the fish grows. A maximum length of 60 cm has been reported for Kurtus gulliveri. |
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Etymology |
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Greek, kyrtos, -e, -on = curved, with a hump |
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Reproductive guild |
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bearers |
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Typical activity level |
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Main Ref  |
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Coordinator |
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Deep Fin Classification  |
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Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Actinopteri | Neopterygii | Teleostei | Osteoglossocephalai | Clupeocephala | Euteleosteomorpha | Neoteleostei | Eurypterygia | Ctenosquamata | Acanthomorphata | Euacanthomorphacea | Percomorphaceae | Gobiomorpharia | Kurtiformes | Kurtoidei | Kurtidae |
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Important recommendation:
The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.
Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.
But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.
Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.
This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).
In the column CofF, the digit indicates the status of synchronization with CofF: 0: Not checked; 1: Same status; 2: Different status; 3: Other combination; 4: Synonym in CofF; 5: Species/Subspecies issue; 6: Synonym of another species in CofF; 7: Not in CofF; 8: Should not be in CofF. The CofF version currently used is the one published on 23-07-2014 (Ref. 97102).
The list ordered as follows:
- When subfamilies are recognized, nominotypical subfamily first then other subfamilies by alphabetical order.
- Type genus of the family first (or of subfamily when subfamilies are recognized) then other genera by chronological order of description (and alphabetical order).
- Type species of the genus first by chronological order (and alphabetical order), with last listed misapplied names in a light gray font.
- ! Marks misspellings of the species names that must not be used.
Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.
| Scientifc name | Status | Senior/Junior synonym | Combination | CofF |
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Kurtus indicus Bloch, 1786 | accepted | senior | original | 2 |
Kurtus gulliveri Castelnau, 1878 | accepted | senior | original | 2 |