Osteoglossidae
Osteoglossidae
Family of fishes
Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. They are commonly known as bonytongues. The family contains two extant subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera.[1] The extinct Phareodontinae are known from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene.[2]
Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that originated some time during the Cretaceous, and are placed in the actinopterygiid order Osteoglossiformes. As traditionally defined, the family includes several extant species from South America, one from Africa, two from Asia, and two from Australia.[3] Although currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the tropics, the group was much more widespread during the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with genera known from North America and Europe, including marine taxa such as Brychaetus. An indeterminate marine osteoglossid is known to have inhabited the seas around Greenland in the Early Paleocene.[4] The earliest known osteoglossid is Cretophareodus from the middle Campanian of the Dinosaur Park Formation, Canada, but a potentially older genus may be Chanopsis from the Albian of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The following taxa are known from the family:[2][5][6][7]
- Family Osteoglossidae
- Genus ?†Chanopsis
- Genus ?†Chauliopareion (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)[2]
- Genus ?†Singida (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)[2]
- Subfamily Arapaiminae
- Genus Arapaima
- Genus Heterotis
- Genus ?†Joffrichthys (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)[8]
- Genus †Sinoglossus
- Genus †Thrissopterus
- Subfamily Osteoglossinae
- Genus Osteoglossum
- Genus Scleropages
- Subfamily †Phareodontinae
- Genus †Brychaetoides
- Genus †Brychaetus
- Genus †Cretophareodus
- Genus ?†Foreyichthys
- Genus †Furichthys [2][7][9]
- Genus ?†Heterosteoglossum
- Genus †Macroprosopon[10]
- Genus †Magnigena
- Genus †Monopteros
- Genus †Musperia
- Genus ?†Opsithrissops
- Genus †Phareoides
- Genus †Phareodus
- Genus †Phareodusichthys
- Genus †Ridewoodichthys
- Genus †Taverneichthys
- Genus †Xosteoglossid
