Updated 30 June 2024
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Heteropneustes Müller 1840 héteros (Gr. ἕτερος), different; pnéō (Gr. πνέω), to breathe; –istḗs (Gr. -ιστής), suffix indicating an agent with a specific profession or trait, i.e., one who breathes, referring to long air sac that serves as lungs extending from gill chamber

Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch 1794) Latin for digging or dug up, allusion not explained; according to Shaw (General Zoology, vol. 5, 1804), it is “sometimes dug out of the mud at the bottom, in the manner of [the cobitid loach] Cobitis fossilis”

Heteropneustes fuscus Plamoottil 2021 Latin for dark, referring to its black-colored body and fins

Heteropneustes kemratensis (Fowler 1937) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kemrat, Thailand, type locality

Heteropneustes longipectoralis Rema Devi & Raghunathan 1999 longus (L.), long; pectoralis (L.), pectoral, referring to long and pointed pectoral fins compared with short and rounded pectoral fins of H. fossilis

Heteropneustes nani Hossain, Sarker, Sharifuzzaman & Chowdhury 2013 in honor of the “eminent” fisheries and aquaculture scientist Nani Gopal Das (b. 1944), for his “continuous contribution” to the authors’ research