Family AUCHENOGLANIDIDAE Jayaram 1966 (Giraffe Catfishes)

Updated 9 Dec. 2024
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Auchenoglanis Günther 1865 replacement name for Auchenaspis Bleeker 1858 (preoccupied in fossil fishes), auchḗn (Gr. αὐχήν), nape, and aspís (Gr. ἀσπίς), shield, referring to broad nuchal shield; glánis (Gr. γλάνις), ancient name for a silurid catfish (probably Silurus aristotelis) dating to Aristotle, often used as a general term for catfish

Auchenoglanis biscutatus (Geoffroy St. Hilaire 1809) bi-, from bis (L.), twice; scutatus (L.), armed with a long shield, referring to nuchal shield divided into two parts

Auchenoglanis occidentalis (Valenciennes 1840) Latin for western, referring to its distribution (described from Senegal) compared with the similar A. biscutatus of Egypt

Notoglanidium Günther 1903 nṓtos (Gr. νῶτος), back, presumably referring to “rather long” dorsal fin of N. walkeri; glanidium, diminutive of glánis (Gr. γλάνις), ancient name for a silurid catfish (probably Silurus aristotelis) dating to Aristotle, often used as a general term for catfish

Notoglanidium akiri (Risch 1987) in honor of Pamela Jeanne Akiri (b. 1944), Rivers State University of Science and Technology (Port Harcourt, Nigeria), American-born biologist who collected type [presumably a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Notoglanidium boutchangai (Thys van den Audenaerde 1965) in honor of Honoré Boutchanga, technical assistant, Eaux et Forêts (Waters and Forests), Gabon, who collected holotype

Notoglanidium depierrei (Daget 1980) in honor of Daniel Depierre, National Superior School of Agronomy (Yaoundé, Cameroon), who collected holotype

Notoglanidium macrostoma (Pellegrin 1909) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, its width ⅔ that of head

Notoglanidium maculatum (Boulenger 1916) Latin for spotted, referring to numerous dark-brown rounded spots on body and fins

Notoglanidium pallidum Roberts & Stewart 1976 Latin for pale or pallid, referring to its coloration

Notoglanidium pembetadi Vreven, Zamba, Mamonekene & Geerinckx 2013 local Kunyi name for this catfish, from tadi, stone, referring to rock-and-pebble habitat, and pembe, meaning unclear; authors selected name to “acknowledge that many of the new species discovered are already well known by the local inhabitants, and to express gratitude to the many children and fishermen who helped to collect the type series”

Notoglanidium thomasi Boulenger 1916 in honor of British anthropologist Northcote W. Thomas (1868–1936), who collected holotype

Notoglanidium walkeri Günther 1903 in honor of Robert Bruce Napoleon Walker (1832–1901), British trader and explorer, Royal Geographical Society, who collected holotype (but who “did not long survive the fatigues of this, his last, voyage”)

Parauchenoglanis Boulenger 1911 pará (Gr. παρά)-, near, referring to similarity to and/or close relationship with Auchenoglanis

Parauchenoglanis ahli (Holly 1930) in honor of German ichthyologist-herpetologist Ernst Ahl (1898–1945), who helped Holly study cyprinodontiform fishes collected in Cameroon

Parauchenoglanis altipinnis (Boulenger 1911) altus (L.), high; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned, referring to its elevated dorsal fin

Parauchenoglanis balayi (Sauvage 1879) in honor of French explorer and colonial administrator Noel Eugene Balay (1847–1902), who collected holotype

Parauchenoglanis buettikoferi (Popta 1913) in honor of Swiss zoologist Johann Büttikofer (1850–1927), Director, Zoological Garden in Rotterdam, who presented holotype to the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (Leiden, Netherlands)

Parauchenoglanis chiumbeensis Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chiumbe River in the Kasai sub-basin, Angola, type locality

Parauchenoglanis dolichorhinus Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024 dolichós (Gr. δολιχός), long; rhinós (Gr. ῥινός), genitive of rhís (ῥίς), nose, referring to its long snout (preorbital length) compared with others in the P. ngamensis group

Parauchenoglanis ernstswartzi Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024  in honor of Ernst Swartz, Research Associate, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, who collected specimens used in the description of six new species in the authors’ study, for his “pioneering and extensive exploration of the Kwanza and adjacent river systems, including the upper Kasai sub-basin”

Parauchenoglanis longiceps (Boulenger 1913) longus (L.), long; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to longer, narrower head compared with P. balayi

Parauchenoglanis lueleensis Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Luele River in the Kasai sub-basin, Angola, where it occurs

Parauchenoglanis luendaensis Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Luenda River in the Kasai sub-basin, Angola, where it occurs

Parauchenoglanis megalasma Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024 mégas (Gr. μέγας), large or great; mélasma (Gr. μέλασμα), black spot, referring to the prominent, large black blotches along its lateral line

Parauchenoglanis monkei (Keilhack 1910) in honor of Dr. H. Monke (no other information available), who collected holotype

Parauchenoglanis ngamensis (Boulenger 1911)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Ngami district (i.e., area), Botswana, type locality

Parauchenoglanis pantherinus (Pellegrin 1929) Latin for panther-like, referring to spotted body and fins (often dark spots on a white, pink or yellow body)

Parauchenoglanis patersoni Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024 in honor of Angus Paterson, former managing director of the National Research Foundation-South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB), for his “determination and efforts to build taxonomic expertise and drive ichthyological explor­ation in poorly surveyed areas in southern Africa”

Parauchenoglanis poikilos Sithole, Vreven, Bragança, Musschoot & Chakona 2024 poikílos (Gr. ποικίλος), mottled or varicolored (authors say “spotted”), referring to the numerous distinctive spots along its body

Parauchenoglanis punctatus (Boulenger 1902) Latin for spotted, referring to vertical series of black dots that accompany seven indistinct darker bars on body and/or transverse series of dark spots on dorsal and caudal fins

Parauchenoglanis stiassnyae Modimo, Bernt, Monsembula Iyaba, Mbimbi & Liyandja 2024 in honor of British-born American ichthyologist Melanie Stiassny (b. 1953), American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), for her “outstanding work and commitment” to biodiscovery and conservation in the Congo River basin; she initiated the AMNH Congo Project that resulted in “significant documentation and an improved systematic, biological, and evolutionary understanding of the Congo River basin ichthyofauna,” and had trained and continues to train numerous Congolese ichthyologists, including the authors of this species

Parauchenoglanis zebratus Sithole, Musschoot, Huyghe, Chakona & Vreven 2023 scientific Neo-Latin for zebra-like, referring to broad, dark-brown-to-black vertical bands of larger specimens