COMMENTS
v. 12.0 – 14 Oct. 2024 view/download PDF
4 families · 18 genera · 142 species/subspecies
Family SYNBRANCHIDAE Swamp Eels
7 genera · 30 species
Macrotrema Regan 1912 macro-, long or large; trema, hole, referring to wide gill opening, “extending upwards above the middle of the side”
Macrotrema caligans (Cantor 1849) groping about (i.e., with poor eyesight), presumably referring to its eyes, each one a “minute black speck”
Monopterus Lacepède 1800 mono, one; pterus, fin, referring to confluent dorsal, caudal and anal fins, and lack of pectoral and pelvic fins
Monopterus albus (Zuiew 1793) white, possibly referring to a bleached-out museum specimen of Synbranchus marmoratus mistakenly applied to this Asian species (though it may have a whitish ventral region) [a senior synonym of the neotropical S. marmoratus; an ICZN decision is needed to protect the current usage of both names]
Monopterus bicolor Nguyen & Nguyen 2006 of two colors, back and upper 2/3 brown, belly and lower 1/3 pale white, unlike the monochromatic M. albus
Monopterus dienbienensis Nguyen & Nguyen 2006 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Dien Bien Province, Viêt Nam, only known area of occurrence
Monopterus javanensis Lacepède 1800 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Java, Indonesia, where type locality (Sunda Strait) is situated (but occurs throughout Southeast Asia)
Ophichthys Swainson 1839 ophis, snake, referring to snake-like appearance (i.e., body shape and absence of fins); ichthys, fish [also spelled “Ophicthys” in same work, apparently in error]
Ophichthys cuchia (Hamilton 1822) local name for this species in India (also spelled “kuchia” and “kunche”)
Ophichthys desilvai (Bailey & Gans 1998) in honor of herpetologist Pilippu Hewa Don Hemasiri de Silva (b. 1927), former director of the National Museums of Ceylon, for his personal hospitality and support to the junior author during field work in Sri Lanka (where this swamp eel is endemic), and for professional advice on local conditions and natural history
Ophichthys fossorius (Nair 1952) fossorial or burrowing, discovered in “slushy mud” at a depth of 0.6-0.9 m in the paddy fields of a banana plantation, having “almost abandoned its aquatic habitat and taken to a burrowing mode of life” [authorship often but incorrectly attributed to “Nayar 1951”]
Ophichthys hodgarti (Chaudhuri 1913) in honor of Richard Arthur Hodgart (1883-?), Zoological Collector, Zoological Survey of India, member of expedition during which type was collected
Ophichthys ichthyophoides (Britz, Lalremsanga, Lalrotluanga & Lalramliana 2011) –oides, having the form of: referring to “striking superficial similarity” to large larvae of the caecilian genus Ichthyophis
Ophichthys indicus (Silas & Dawson 1961) –icus, belonging to: India, where it is endemic
Ophichthys terricolus Britz, Standing, Gower & Kamei 2023 terra, soil; –colus, dwelling in, referring to its occurrence in inundated soil (mud)
Ophisternon McClelland 1844 ophis, serpent; sternon, chest, i.e., “the trunk is formed like that of a snake”
Ophisternon aenigmaticum Rosen & Greenwood 1976 something obscure, referring to “obscure” taxonomic history of swamp eels, which the chance discovery of this species, previously assigned to an unrelated species, prompted the authors to resolve
Ophisternon afrum (Boulenger 1909) African, the first species of the family known from Africa
Ophisternon bengalense McClelland 1844 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bengal, India, type locality, “where it is rather common”
Ophisternon berlini Arroyave, Angulo, Mar-Silva & Stiassny 2024. in honor of Erick Berlin, “a strong supporter of conservation and scientific research of Costa Rican biodiversity,” who first encountered this species and owns the nature reserve where it lives
Ophisternon candidum (Mees 1962) shining white, described as being a “very striking pure white” in life (with a “faint pinkish tone” on captured specimens, presumably caused by damage of small blood vessels as a result of its capture”; recent photographs show a pinkish-red coloration)
Ophisternon gutturale (Richardson 1845) of the throat, referring to its single branchial opening, a “transverse slit on the throat, without a septum”
Ophisternon infernale (Hubbs 1938) underground, referring to its cave habitat
Rakthamichthys Britz, Dahanukar & Standing 2020 raktham, Malayalam word for blood, referring to blood-red color in life of all species; ichthys, fish
Monopterus digressus (Gopi 2002) deviation, referring to its “being different from other closely resembling species” (e.g., R. eapeni and R. roseni)
Rakthamichthys indicus (Eapen 1963) Indian, presumed at the time to be the only known species of Monopterus (original genus) occurring in India [since this species is now in Rakthamichthys, the name is no longer preoccupied in Monopterus by Ophichthys indicus; a 1991 replacement name, Monopterus eapeni, is now a junior synonym)
Rakthamichthys mumba Praveenraj, Thackeray, Mohapatra & Pavan-Kumar 2021 named for Mumbai City, Maharashtra, India, type locality (mumba originated from Marathi, an official language spoken by the people of Maharashtra, honoring the Maha Amba or Mumba Aai, the patron goddess worshipped by city inhabitants)
Rakthamichthys rongsaw (Britz, Sykes, Gower & Kamei 2018) Khasi (indigenous ethnic group in northeastern India) word meaning red, referring to blood-red color in life
Rakthamichthys roseni (Bailey & Gans 1998) in honor of the late Donn E. Rosen (1929-1986), American Museum of Natural History, “accomplished ichthyologist, discerning student of the Synbranchidae, and personal friend and associate” of both authors; he was a field companion of the senior author during five expeditions to Guatemala, “where the many memorable months of ichthyological research included field investigation of two species of synbranchids”
Synbranchus Bloch 1795 syn-, together; branchus, gill, referring to gill openings confluent in a narrow slit
Synbranchus lampreia Favorito, Zanata & Assumpção 2005 lampréia, Portuguese word for lamprey, local name for this fish at ilha de Marajó (Pará, Brazil), type locality
Synbranchus madeirae Rosen & Rumney 1972 of the Río Madeira basin, Bolivia, where it is endemic
Synbranchus marmoratus Bloch 1795 marbled, referring to its brownish, variously marbled (but sometimes immaculate) coloration [a junior synonym of the Asian Monopterus albus, described from South America (possibly Suriname) but mistakenly applied to an Asian species; an ICZN decision is needed to protect the current usage of both names]
Synbranchus royal Sabaj, Arce H. & Sousa 2022 in honor of American ichthyologist Tyson Royal Roberts (b. 1940), “who with a little help from his friends and colleagues has examined more Synbranchus specimens than all other ichthyologists combined” [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]
Typhlosynbranchus Pellegrin 1922 typhlos, blind, referring to absence of eyes, i.e., a blind Synbranchus or synbranchid fish
Typhlosynbranchus boueti Pellegrin 1922 in honor of Georges Théodore Louis Bouët (1869-1957), army physician, ornithologist and colonial administrator, who served as French Chargé d’Affaires and French Consul in Monrovia, Liberia (type locality) and supplied specimens to the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), including type of this species
Typhlosynbranchus luticolus (Britz, Doherty-Bone, Kouete, Sykes & Gower 2016) lutus, mud; –colus, living among, referring to its habitat
Family CHAUDHURIIDAE Earthworm Eels
7 genera · 11 species
Bihunichthys Kottelat & Lim 1994 Bihun, English transcription of Bee Hoon (Hokien Chinese), a kind of very slender noodle, referring to its general shape or appearance; ichthys, fish
Bihunichthys monopteroides Kottelat & Lim 1994 –oides, having the form of: juvenile Monopterus albus (Synbranchidae), with which this species was initially confused; also refers to false impression that its unpaired fins are fused into a single fin (mono, one; pterus, fin) and caudal fin reduced to a single ray
Chaudhuria Annandale 1918 –ia, belonging to: friend and colleague B. L. Chaudhuri (d. 1931), Assistant Superintendent, Indian Museum, to whom Annandale was “indebted for considerable assistance” in the preparation of this paper on the fishes of Inlé Lake, southern Shan States, Myanmar
Chaudhuria caudata Annandale 1918 tailed, believed at the time to be the only true eel (Anguilliformes) with a caudal fin
Chaudhuria fusipinnis Kottelat & Britz 2000 fusio, fusion; pinnis, fin, referring to continuous dorsal, anal and caudal fins
Chaudhuria ritvae Britz 2010 in honor of Britz’ wife Ritva Roesler (b. 1970), Finnish artist and scientific illustrator, who helped collect the species, honoring her continuing support of his work on Myanmar freshwater fishes
Chendol Kottelat & Lim 1994 chendol (also spelled cendol), an iced, sweet dessert in Malaysia and Singapore that contains noodles of worm-like, green, rice-flour jelly, referring to the distribution and shape of these worm-like fishes
Chendol keelini Kottelat & Lim 1994 in honor of carcinologist Peter Kee Lin Ng, National University of Singapore, for his support of the authors and many other researchers of Southeast Asian aquatic biology
Chendol lubricus Kottelat & Lim 1994 slippery, slick or lubricated, referring to thick mucus layer that makes this species very difficult to grasp and handle, in life as well as preserved
Garo Yazdani & Talwar 1981 named for Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, India, where the only known species occurs
Garo khajuriai (Talwar, Yazdani & Kundu 1977) in honor of zoologist H. Khajuria (d. 1982), Zoological Survey of India, who collected type
Nagaichthys Kottelat & Lim 1991 Naga, Malay name meaning dragon, referring to stylized Chinese dragons that have a tail shaped like the caudal fin of this genus; ichthys, fish
Nagaichthys filipes Kottelat & Lim 1991 filum, thread; pes, foot, referring to filamentous pectoral fin, consisting of a single ray [in most other fish names, cheir, hand, refers to the pectoral fin and pes, foot, refers to the ventral or pelvic fin]
Pillaia Yazdani 1972 –ia, belonging to: R. Sridharan Pillai, Eastern Regional Station of the Zoological Survey of India (where type specimens are housed)
Pillaia indica Yazdani 1972 Indian, referring to country where it is endemic
Pillaia kachinica Kullander, Britz & Fang 2000 –ia, belonging to: Kachin State, Myanmar, type locality
Pillaiabrachia Britz 2016 Pillaia, referring to superficial resemblance with that genus; a-, without and brachia, arm, referring to lack of pectoral fins
Pillaiabrachia siniae Britz 2016 in honor of Britz’s daughter Sini, a “remarkable little girl,” for supporting her father’s fieldwork with “patience and understanding”
Family MASTACEMBELIDAE Freshwater Spiny Eels
3 genera · 98 species/subspecies
Macrognathus Lacepède 1800 macro-, long or large; gnathus, jaw, referring to “very advanced and horn-shaped” upper jaw (i.e., snout or rostrum)
Macrognathus aculeatus (Bloch 1786) spined, referring to numerous small spines on back in front of dorsal fin
Macrognathus albus Plamoottil & Abraham 2014 white, referring to its “dirty white” sides
Macrognathus aral (Bloch & Schneider 1801) local name for this fish at Tranquebar (now Tharangambadi), Tamil Nadu, India (also called Mono-arel and Aarel)
Macrognathus aureus Britz 2010 golden, referring to its golden-brown coloration
Macrognathus caudiocellatus (Boulenger 1893) caudi-, tail; ocellatus, having little eyes, referring to series of black ocelli or eyespots with yellowish centers along caudal fin
Macrognathus circumcinctus (Hora 1924) circum, around; cinctus, belt or girdle, referring to dark brown bands encircling head and body
Macrognathus dorsiocellatus Britz 2010 dorsum, back; ocellatus, having little eyes, referring to series of ocelli or eyespots along dorsal fin
Macrognathus fasciatus Plamoottil & Abraham 2014 banded, referring to vertical stripes on sides
Macrognathus guentheri (Day 1865) in honor of ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830-1914); in enumerating the fishes of Cochin (now Kochi), India, Day wrote, “I shall take Dr. Günther’s most valuable [“Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum”] as my text-book, adhere to his arrangement, and as closely as possible make use of the names he has appropriated to each species.”
Macrognathus keithi (Herre 1940) in honor of Henry George Keith (1899-1982), Conservator of Forests for British North Borneo, for his hospitality and aid during Herre’s trips to Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
Macrognathus kris Ng & Tan 2020 kris, a wavy-bladed dagger carried and used by Indonesian nobility and warriors (species occurs in Borneo, Kalimantan Tengah), referring to wavy or zigzag pattern on body and its general resting posture when viewed from above
Macrognathus lineatomaculatus Britz 2010 lineatus, striped or lined; maculatus, spotted or blotched, referring to row of blotches along dorsal-fin base and sometimes along middle of body
Macrognathus maculatus (Cuvier 1832) spotted, referring to 14-15 black spots on each side of dorsal-fin base (although they are difficult to distinguish on the fish’s dark-brown body) and/or 17-18 black spots along anal-fin base
Macrognathus meklongensis Roberts 1986 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Mekong River basin, Thailand, where it is endemic
Macrognathus morehensis Arunkumar & Tombi Singh 2000 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Moreh Bazar, Chandel district, Manipur, India, near where type locality (Maklang River) is situated (also occurs in Bhutan)
Macrognathus obscurus Britz 2010 inconspicuous, referring to lack of prominent dorsal-fin ocelli or eyespots otherwise typical of the M. aculeatus group
Macrognathus orthosemos Britz & Kottelat 2020 with vertical stripes, referring to series of oblique bars on body
Macrognathus pancalus Hamilton 1822 presumably a latinization of Pangkal, Assamese name for this spiny eel in India (also occurs in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh)
Macrognathus pavo Britz 2010 peacock, referring to numerous black spots on body and along dorsal and anal fins, like the spots on peacock feathers
Macrognathus pentophthalmos (Gronow 1854) pente, five; ophthalmos, eye, referring to 5 (but varying from 4-9) dark-brown, white-edged ocelli or eye-like spots at dorsal-fin base; name dates to Willughby (1686) but description dates to 1763 ms. by Gronow posthumously published in 1854 [species last seen in 1980, presumably now extinct for unknown reasons]
Macrognathus semiocellatus Roberts 1986 semi-, half; ocellatus, having little eyes, presumably referring to “traces” of ocelli or eyespots along dorsal-fin base
Macrognathus siamensis (Günther 1861) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Siam, or Thailand, type locality (also occurs in Laos, Cambodia and Viêt Nam, established in Florida, USA)
Macrognathus siangensis Arunkumar 2016 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Siang River at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, India, type locality
Macrognathus tapirus Kottelat & Widjanarti 2005 tapir, herbivorous mammal with a short, prehensile nose trunk, alluding to this spiny eel’s long snout [replacement name for Mastacembelus paucispinis Fowler 1939, preoccupied by M. paucispinis Boulenger 1899]
Macrognathus zebrinus (Blyth 1858) zebra-like, referring to pattern of dusky transverse stripes on body, much like a zebra’s
Mastacembelus Scopoli 1777 etymology unknown, perhaps mastax, mouth or jaw and embolus, peg or wedge or belos, arrow or spear, possibly referring to sharp or pointed jaws of equal length (“maxillis subacutis aequalibus”) [non-Linnaean name coined by Gronow in 1763 and made available as a genus with no included species by Scopoli; name treated as a specific epithet by Banks & Solandar in 1794 (see M. mastacembelus), which later created a seemingly unintentional tautonym when their species was placed in Mastacembelus]
Mastacembelus alboguttatus Boulenger 1893 albus, white; guttatus, spotted, referring to round white spots on body and fins
Mastacembelus albomaculatus Poll 1953 albus, white; maculatus, spotted, referring to round (more or less) white spots over entire body
Mastacembelus ansorgii Boulenger 1905 in honor of explorer William John Ansorge (1850-1913), who collected type
Mastacembelus apectoralis Brown, Britz, Bills, Rüber & Day 2011 a-, without; pectoralis, pectoral, referring to absence of pectoral fins
Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepède 1800) armed with a weapon, referring to 33 spines in front of dorsal fin
Mastacembelus aviceps Roberts & Stewart 1976 avis, bird; ceps, head, allusion not explained; based on photograph accompanying description, name could refer to bird- or beak-like shape of head
Mastacembelus batesii Boulenger 1911 in honor of George Latimer Bates (1863-1940), farmer and ornithologist who lived in Cameroon and collected specimens for the Natural History Museum (London), including type of this species
Mastacembelus binhluensis Vu, Nguyen & Nguyen 2019 -ensis, suffix denoting place: Bình Lu, Tam Duròng, Lai Châu, northern Viêt Nam, type locality
Mastacembelus brachyrhinus Boulenger 1899 brachys, short; rhinus, nose, referring to snout ending in an “exceedingly short” (translation) trifid appendage measuring ~½ diameter of eye, shorter than rostral appendage of M. marmoratus (=niger) and M. tanganicae
Mastacembelus brichardi (Poll 1958) in honor of aquarium-fish exporter Pierre Brichard (1921-1990), who provided type
Mastacembelus catchpolei Fowler 1936 in honor of Capt. Geoffrey Catchpole, big-game hunter, Njiana Farm near Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, who collected type
Mastacembelus congicus Boulenger 1896 –icus, belonging to: upper Congo River basin of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), type locality (also occurs in Cameroon, Angola, Central African Republic, Zambia, and possibly Chad)
Mastacembelus crassus Roberts & Stewart 1976 wide, referring to “very thick” head and body of both juveniles and adults
Mastacembelus cryptacanthus Günther 1867 cryptos, hidden; acanthus, spine, referring to “small and feeble” dorsal spines, “almost hidden in the skin”
Mastacembelus cunningtoni Boulenger 1906 in honor of William Alfred Cunnington (1877-1958), British zoologist and anthropologist, who led Tanganyika expedition that collected type
Mastacembelus decorsei Pellegrin 1919 in honor of the late Gaston-Jules Decorse (1873-1907), French Army physician and naturalist, Pellegrin’s friend and colleague, and member of the Auguste Chevalier expedition, representing the first ichthyological collection from the Chari River in Chad (although this species was collected in the Central African Republic)
Mastacembelus dienbienensis Nguyen & Nguyen 2006 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien province, Viêt Nam, type locality (but types now lost)
Mastacembelus ellipsifer Boulenger 1899 ellipsis, ellipse (oval shape); fero, to carry or bear, referring to 12 brown elliptical bands, darker at the edges, across back
Mastacembelus erythrotaenia Bleeker 1850 erythros, red; taenia, ribbon or band, referring to several bright-red lateral stripes on body, giving the “Fire Eel” its name in the aquarium trade
Mastacembelus favus Hora 1924 honeycomb, presumably referring to color pattern, consisting of a “network of wide dark meshes enclosing between them circular or elliptical whitish areas”
Mastacembelus flavidus Matthes 1962 yellowish, referring to coloration in life: body entirely yellow or gray-yellowish with golden reflections, ventral regions cream-colored or pale yellow, the head and nape of a yellowish gray
Mastacembelus flavomarginatus Boulenger 1898 flavus, yellow; marginatus, edged or bordered, referring to dark-brown or black anal and dorsal fins of adults edged in yellow
Mastacembelus frenatus Boulenger 1901 bridled, referring to dark streak on each side of head, passing through eye
Mastacembelus goro Boulenger 1902 local name for this spiny eel at Ubangi River, Banzyville (now Mobayi-Mbongo), Democratic Republic of the Congo, type locality
Mastacembelus greshoffi Boulenger 1901 in honor of Anton Greshoff (1856-1905), Dutch trader and collector, who collected type
Mastacembelus kadeiensis Roberts 2021 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Kadei River, Congo basin, 30 km west-northwest of Nola, Congo basin, Central African Republic Central African Republic, type locality
Mastacembelus kakrimensis Vreven & Teugels 2005 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Kakrima River, major tributary of the Konkoure River basin, Guinea, type locality
Mastacembelus latens Roberts & Stewart 1976 hidden, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “weakly cryptophthalmic” eyes (cryptos=hidden)
Mastacembelus liberiensis Boulenger 1898 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Liberia, type locality (also occurs in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast)
Mastacembelus loennbergii Boulenger 1898 in honor of Swedish zoologist Einar Lönnberg (1865-1942), who reported this species as M. cryptacanthus in 1895
Mastacembelus malabaricus Jerdon 1849 –icus, belonging to: Malabar (i.e., southern India), referring to type locality in Kerala
Mastacembelus marchei Sauvage 1879 in honor of naturalist Antonine-Alfred Marche (1844-1898), who collected specimens (including type of this species) from the Ogooué (Ogowe) River in Gabon (type locality) under the command of French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
Mastacembelus mastacembelus (Banks & Solander 1794) presumably based on “Mastacembelus,” a non-Linnaean name coined by Gronow (1763) and made available as a genus with no included species by Scopoli (1777); etymology unknown, perhaps mastax, mouth or jaw and embolus, peg or wedge or belos, arrow or spear, possibly referring to sharp or pointed jaws of equal length (see genus, above) [Ophidium simack Walbaum 1792, derived from simak, local name for his spiny eel in Aleppo, Syria, is a senior synonym but treated as a nomen oblitum by Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes]
Mastacembelus micropectus Matthes 1962 micro-, small; pectus, pectoral, referring to its vestigial pectoral fins
Mastacembelus moorii Boulenger 1898 in honor of its discoverer, John Edmund Sharrock Moore (1870-1947), cytologist, zoologist and Tanganyika expedition leader
Mastacembelus niger Sauvage 1879 black or blackish, presumably referring to uniform brownish coloration
Mastacembelus nigromarginatus Boulenger 1898 nigro-, black; marginatus, bordered or edged, referring to dorsal and anal fins edged in brown or black
Mastacembelus notophthalmus Roberts 1989 noto-, mark; ophthalmus, eye, i.e., eye mark, referring to dark bar extending below eye in almost all specimens
Mastacembelus oatesii Boulenger 1893 in honor of civil servant (in India and Burma) and amateur ornithologist Eugene William Oates (1845-1911), who collected type
Mastacembelus ophidium Günther 1894 ophis, snake, i.e., a small snake, presumably referring to snake-like appearance; –idium, diminutive connoting resemblance
Mastacembelus pani Endruweit 2024 in honor of Pan Xiaofu, Kumming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, co-collector of the type series
Mastacembelus pantherinus Britz 2007 like a panther, referring to numerous spots on body
Mastacembelus paucispinis Boulenger 1899 paucus, few; spinis, spine, referring to fewer dorsal spines (7) compared to congeners in the Congo (17-39)
Mastacembelus plagiostomus Matthes 1962 plagio, oblique; stoma, mouth, presumably referring to its inferior mouth
Mastacembelus platysoma Poll & Matthes 1962 platy, flat; soma, body, presumably referring to “very high and compressed” (translation) body
Mastacembelus polli Vreven 2005 in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll (1908-1991), who “pioneered” ichthyological studies at Lake Tanganyika and who first suggested that this species might be new in 1953
Mastacembelus praensis (Travers 1992) –ensis, suffix denoting place: tributary of Pra River, Ghana, type locality
Mastacembelus reygeli Vreven & Snoeks 2009 in honor of Alain Reygel (b. 1956), scientific illustrator, Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale (Tervuren, Belgium), for his numerous “beautiful” drawings of African fishes
Mastacembelus robertsi (Vreven & Teugels 1996) in honor of ichthyologist Tyson R. Roberts (b. 1940), who collected part of the type material and first suggested this species might be new to science
Mastacembelus sanagali Thys van den Audenaerde 1972 of the Sanaga River basin, Cameroon, where it is endemic
Mastacembelus seiteri Thys van den Audenaerde 1972 in honor of A. Seiter, ferry operator on the Sanaga River at Nachtigal, Cameroon (type locality); described as a long-term resident of the area, he was a keen angler, familiar with river’s biotopes, immediately took an interest in the author’s research, and collected type of M. sanagali
Mastacembelus sexdecimspinus (Roberts & Travers 1986) sexdecim, 16; spinus, spine, referring to number of dorsal spines of most specimens (some have 15)
Mastacembelus shiloangoensis (Vreven 2004) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Shiloango River basin, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, where it appears to be endemic
Mastacembelus shiranus Günther 1896 –anus, belonging to: upper Shiré River, between lakes Malawi and Malombe, type locality (also occurs in Lake Malawi)
Mastacembelus simbi Vreven & Stiassny 2009 simbi (plural: basimbi), a Kikongo word meaning “water spirit,” once considered as ancient ancestors in the Bakongo region of the Congo River, where this spiny eel is endemic
Mastacembelus strigiventus Zhou & Yang 2011 striga, stripe or streak; ventus, venter or abdomen, referring to longitudinal brown line from isthmus to anus on abdomen, sometimes forming a network of lines
Mastacembelus taiaensis (Travers 1992) –ensis, suffix denoting place: tributary of Taia River at Yele, Sierra Leone, type locality
Mastacembelus tanganicae Günther 1894 of Lake Tanganyika, where it is endemic
Mastacembelus tinwini Britz 2007 in honor of U Tin Win, Myanmarese aquarist and aquarium-fish exporter, for his “help in the field and the gift of specimens”
Mastacembelus traversi (Vreven & Teugels 1997) in honor of spiny eel taxonomist Robert A. Travers, associated with both the British Museum (Natural History) and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris); he was the first to tentatively recognize part of the type material as a new species
Mastacembelus triolobus Zhou & Yang 2011 tri-, three; lobus, lobe, referring to nearly separated dorsal, anal and caudal fins, which in outline look like three lobes
Mastacembelus trispinosus Steindachner 1911 tri-, three; spinosus, spiny, referring to three preopercular spines
Mastacembelus truttoides Endruweit 2024 –oides, having the form of: trutta, Latin for trout, referring to color pattern on upper half of sides, resembling that of the Brown Trout Salmo trutta
Mastacembelus ubangipaucispinis Roberts 2021 ubangi, referring to Ubangi River, Congo basin, Ubangi, Central African Republic, type locality; paucus, few, and spinis, spine, referring to unusually low count (10) of dorsal-fin spines for a mastacembelid
Mastacembelus undulatus (McClelland 1843) wavy or undulating, referring to “broad undulating dark line, which extends along each side, sending off at every undulation a branch to the back, which meets a corresponding branch from the opposite side”
Mastacembelus unicolor Cuvier 1832 uni-, one, referring to uniform red-brown coloration
Mastacembelus vanderwaali Skelton 1976 in honor Ben C. W. Van der Waal, Senior Professional Officer in Charge of Fisheries, Eastern Caprivi Government Service, who submitted “Valuable systematic collections” of fishes from the Caprivi area (Botswana, Namibia, Angola), including this spiny eel
Mastacembelus zebratus Matthes 1962 zebra-like, presumably referring to black bands on back and upper 2/3 of body
Sinobdella Kottelat & Lim 1994 Sino-, of Sinica (China), referring to distribution of S. sinensis; bdella, leach or sucker, but in this case an abridgement of Rhynchobdella Bloch & Schneider 1801 (=Macrognathus), genus in which S. sinensis had been placed
Sinobdella anguillaris (Mori 1928) Latin for eel-like, referring to its body shape, “elongate, much compressed, gradually tapering towards the pointed tail”
Sinobdella kobayashii (Oshima 1926) in honor of Hikoshiro Kobayashi, head of the Shiga Prefectural Fisheries Experiment Station, where Oshima was working at the time
Sinobdella longitubulus Shan & Zhang 2024 longus, long; tubulus, pipe, referring to two tubular anterior nostrils longer than or equal to (vs. shorter than) the rostral appendage (possibly a junior synonym of S. magnificus)
Sinobdella magnificus Endruweit 2024 Latin for splendid or magnificent, referring to its “appealing” appearance
Sinobdella sinensis (Bleeker 1870) –ensis, suffix denoting place: described from Sinica (China), where it occurs in the Yellow, Yangtze, Pearl and Red River basins
Family INDOSTOMIDAE Armored Sticklebacks
1 genus · 3 species
Indostomus Prashad & Mukerji 1929 etymology not explained, perhaps Indo-, Indian, referring to type locality in Burma (now Myanmar), then part of British India; stomus, mouth, but possibly referring to its presumed closest relative at the time, the pipefish genus Solenostomus (Syngnathiformes: Solenostomidae), i.e., an Indian Solenostomus
Indostomus crocodilus Britz & Kottelat 1999 crocodile, referring to its resemblance to the reptile in overall appearance
Indostomus paradoxus Prashad & Mukerji 1929 strange or contrary to expectation, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to the unexpected presence of what the authors believed is a “marine relict” pipefish (Syngnathiformes) living in an inland freshwater lake in Burma (now Myanmar), and/or to its unusual combination of characters (e.g., small tubular mouth of a pipefish, dorsal spines of a stickleback)
Indostomus spinosus Britz & Kottelat 1999 spiny, referring to serrated edges of head bones, giving it a spiny appearance