Kryptopterus

Heok Hee Ng, 2003, Kryptopterus geminus, a new species of silurid catfish (Teleostei: Siluridae) from mainland Southeast Asia., Zootaxa 305, pp. 1-11 : 1

[[ Genus Kryptopterus ]]

Members of the silurid catfish genus Kryptopterus Bleeker , 1858 are small-to medium-sized fishes found in inland waters throughout Southeast Asia. Kryptopterus , as currently understood, is known to be paraphyletic and shown to consist of at least two distinct clades (Bornbusch, 1995). This is reflected in the recent taxonomy of the group, in which the large species with elevated (14-17 vs. 8-13) branchiostegal-ray counts are reassigned to the genus Micronema (e.g. Rainboth, 1996; Kottelat, 2001). The distinctive type species of Kryptopterus , K. cryptopterus (Bleeker 1851), is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia and easily identified by its dorsal profile (horizontal or very gently convex and lacking a nuchal concavity) and short maxillary barbels.

While examining material as part of a larger collaborative phylogenetic study of the Siluridae, distinct and consistent differences were observed between populations of K. cryptopterus from mainland (Indochinese peninsula excluding the Malay Peninsula) and Sundaic (Borneo, Java, Sumatra and Malay Peninsula) Southeast Asia. This led to the recognition of the mainland Southeast Asian population as belonging to a distinct species, herein described as K. geminus , new species.