Osteoglossidae
9 species
Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera.
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. Although currently restricted to the tropics, the group was much more widespread during the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with species known from North America and Europe. In addition, while they are largely known from freshwater habitats, an indeterminate marine osteoglossid is known to have inhabited the seas around Greenland in the Early Paleocene.
Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera.
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. Although currently restricted to the tropics, the group was much more widespread during the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with species known from North America and Europe. In addition, while they are largely known from freshwater habitats, an indeterminate marine osteoglossid is known to have inhabited the seas around Greenland in the Early Paleocene.
