Family KNERIIDAE Günther 1868 (Knerias or Shellears)

Updated 27 Oct. 2023
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Cromeria Boulenger 1901ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Lord Cromer (Evelyn Baring, 1841–1917), British Consul-General of Egypt (1883–1907)

Cromeria nilotica Boulenger 1901 ica (L.), belonging to: upper Nile River basin of Eastern Africa, where it occurs

Cromeria occidentalis Daget 1954 Latin for western, referring to its distribution in Western Africa, west of C. nilotica

Grasseichthys Géry 1964 in honor of French entomologist Pierre-Paul Grassé (1895–1985), who led a wildlife inventory in the Ivindo basin (Gabon), during which holotype of G. gabonensis was collected; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Grasseichthys gabonensis Géry 1964 ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Gabon, where it is endemic

Kneria Steindachner 1866ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Austrian ichthyologist Rudolph Kner (1810–1869), Steindachner’s “revered teacher and friend” (translation)

Kneria angolensis Steindachner 1866 ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Angola, type locality

Kneria ansorgii (Boulenger 1910) in honor of English explorer and collector William John Ansorge (1850–1913), who collected holotype

Kneria auriculata (Pellegrin 1905) Neo-Latin for eared, referring to cup-shaped process (contact organ) on gill covers of males

Kneria katangae Poll 1976 of Katanga, referring to type locality in Upemba National Park, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kneria luansaensis Kalumba, Abwe, Schedel, Manda, Schliewen & Vreven 2023 ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Luansa River, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it appears to be endemic

Kneria maxi Kalumba, Abwe, Schedel, Manda, Schliewen & Vreven 2023 in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll (1908–1991), for his “extensive” studies in African ichthyology, for his work on Kneria (“which serves, to this very day, as a basis for the identification of species of the genus”), and for being the first to identify Kneria specimens collected from the Luansa River of the Upper Congo Basin, where this species and K. luansaensis occur

Kneria maydelli Ladiges & Voelker 1961 in honor of German ecologist and biogeographer Gustav Adolf von Maydell (1919–1959), who led the German India-Expedition (1955–1958) of the University of Hamburg Zoological Institute and Museum, during which he collected holotype

Kneria paucisquamata Poll & Stewart 1975 paucus (L.), few or scanty; squamata (L.), scaled, referring to larger (and, therefore, fewer) scales along lateral line, in a genus in which “small scales are a rule” (translation)

Kneria polli Trewavas 1936 in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll (1908–1991), who discovered that the opercular contact organ was a character of mature males, thus subsuming Xenopomatichthys Pellegrin 1905 into the synonymy of Kneria

Kneria ruaha Seegers 1995 named for the Ruaha River drainage, Tanzania, type locality

Kneria rukwaensis Seegers 1995ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Rukwa drainage, Tanzania and Zambia, the center of its distribution

Kneria sjolandersi Poll 1967 in honor of David Sjölanders (1886–1954, also spelled Sjölander), Swedish adventurer, conservationist and nature photographer, who led the Angola Expedition (1948–1949), during which holotype was collected

Kneria stappersii Boulenger 1915 in honor of Belgian physician-biologist Louis Stappers (1883–1916), head of the Belgian colony in the Congo, who led an expedition to central Africa (1911–1913), during which he collected holotype

Kneria uluguru Seegers 1995 named for the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania, where it appears to be endemic

Kneria wittei Poll 1944 in honor of Belgian herpetologist Gaston François De Witte (1897–1980), whose collections in the Congolese state of Katanga helped Poll distinguish between Kneria and Xenopomatichthys (males of Kneria)

Parakneria Poll 1965 pará (Gr. παρά), near or beside, referring to its similarity to Kneria, in which several species had originally been placed

Parakneria abbreviata (Pellegrin 1931) Latin for shortened, described as a variety of P. cameronensis with a more compact form (height 5–6 times in length vs. 7–9)

Parakneria alytogramma Mutambala, Abwe, Schedel, Manda, Schliewen & Vreven 2022 álytos (Gr. ἄλυτος), not to be loosened or broken (i.e., uninterrupted); grammus, scientific Neo-Latin derived from grammḗ (Gr. γραμμή), line or stroke of the pen, referring to its diagnostic uninterrupted lateral mid-longitudinal black band, compared with rounded, black spots among its Congo Basin congeners [originally spelled alytogrammus, but since authors say name is an adjective it is emended to agree with feminine gender of genus]

Parakneria cameronensis (Boulenger 1909) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: southern Cameroon, type locality

Parakneria damasi Poll 1965 in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Hubert Damas (1910–1964), University of Liège, who collected holotype during one of his expeditions in central Africa

Parakneria fortuita Penrith 1973 Latin for fortuitous, referring to the “fortuitous circumstances” (on a Friday the 13th) that were involved in collecting this species: pitching camp on the wrong river and forced to collect there because a burned-down bridge and a washed-out road prevented access to correct river

Parakneria kissi Poll 1969 in honor of hydrobiologist R. Kiss, Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale at Lwiro (Democratic Republic of the Congo), who collected holotype

Parakneria ladigesi Poll 1967 in honor of German aquarist and ichthyologist Werner Ladiges (1910–1984), Director, Zoologisches Staats Instituut and Zoologisches Museum, Hamburg

Parakneria lufirae Poll 1965 of Lufira River, Upemba National Park, Zaire, type locality

Parakneria malaissei Poll 1969 in honor of Belgian botanist-ecologist François Malaisse (b. 1934), University of Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo), who collected holotype

Parakneria marmorata (Norman 1923) Latin for marbled, referring to yellow-brown coloration on upper half of body, marbled with dark brown

Parakneria mossambica Jubb & Bell-Cross 1974ica (L. suffix), belonging to: Mozambique, where it is endemic

Parakneria spekii (Günther 1868) in honor of British Indian Army officer and explorer John Hanning Speke (1827–1864), who presented type to the British Museum (Natural History); Speke, the first European to see Lake Victoria, proved it to be the source of the Nile

Parakneria tanzaniae Poll 1984 of Tanzania, where it is endemic

Parakneria thysi Poll 1965 in honor of Poll’s Musée de l’Afrique Centrale colleague, Belgian ichthyologist Dirk Thys van den Audenaerde (b. 1934), who collected holotype and who collected in Katanga (then a breakaway state marked by murder, kidnapping and mercenary warfare, now in Democratic Republic of the Congo) in “difficult and even dangerous” conditions (translation)

Parakneria vilhenae Poll 1965 in honor of Portuguese businessman and politician Ernesto de Vilhena (1876–1967), managing director of Angolan Diamond Company, for his support of the study of Angolan zoology [although named after a man, “ae” is, per Latin grammar, an acceptable way to form a genitive from nouns that end in “a”]