Cheiracanthus, Clarias, Diplomystes and Hypsidoris

Coccosteus wteeth specimen (Middle-Late Devonian) has anterordorsal nares and a premaxillary tooth plate. An antorbital fenestra separates the orbit from the rostrum tip as in catfish. The long narrow pectoral fin is preserved against the lateral carapace.

Clarias batrachus (Linneaus 1758, up to 50 cm in length) is the extant walking catfish. The skull bones are nearly identical to those in the placoderm, Entelognathus, with the exception that the jaw is shorter, the quadrate and jugal are rotated to follow the jaw joint and the preopercular bone rotates toward the rear. The spiny pectoral fins keep it upright as it wriggles from pond to pond. No scales or bones appear on the surface. The teeth are more like toothbrush bristles on pads. Overlooked previously, Clarias is a living basal placoderm. Reproduction is external.

Hypsidoris farsonensis (Lundberg and Case 1970; Middle Eocene) was considered the most primitive catfish. Here it nests with Clarias and other catfish.

Diplomystes camposensis (Arratia 1987, up to 25 cm in length) is the extant velvt catfish. The maxillary teeth are retained and all the teeth are long. Note the large dorsal spine and brachials. This catfish have a single robust lateral barbel.

Arratia G 1987. Description of the primitive family Diplomystidae (Siluriformes,
Teleostei, Pisces): morphology, taxonomy, and phylogenetic implications. In: Bonner
Zoologische Monographien 24. Bonn: Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum
Alexander Koenig.

Burrow C, Blaauwen JD and Newman M 2020. A redescription of the three longest-known species of the acanthodian Cheiracanthus from the Middle Devonian of Scotland. Palaeontologia Electronica 23(1):a15.

Egerton P de MG 1861. British fossils, pp 51-75. In Huxley TH (ed) Preliminary Essay Upon the Systematic Arrangement of the Fishes of the Devonian Epoch, Figures and Descriptions Illustrative of British Organic Remains. Memoirs of the Geological Survey UK (Decade 10).

Linnaeus C 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.

Lundberg JG and Case GR 1970. A New Catfish from the Eocene Green River Formation, Wyoming. Journal of Paleontology 44(3):452.

wiki/Clarias
wiki/Hypsidoris
wiki/Diplomystes
wiki/Cheiracanthus

Siluriformes

Clarias

Guiyu

Hoplosternum

Ictalurus

Electrophorus

Acanthodii

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