Pseudobarbus
| Pseudobarbus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| P. burchelli from the Breede catchment | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Superclass: | Osteichthyes |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Subclass: | Neopterygii |
| Infraclass: | Teleostei |
| Superorder: | Ostariophysi |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Superfamily: | Cyprinioidea |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Subfamily: | Barbinae (but see text) |
| Genus: | Pseudobarbus A. Smith, 1841 |
| Type species | |
| Barbus burchelli Smith, 1841 | |
| Diversity | |
| Presently 7 species, but perhaps over one dozen (see text) | |
Pseudobarbus is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. The type species is Burchell's Redfin (P. burchelli). The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek pseudes ("false") and the Latin word barbus ("beard", in reference to the barbels of barbs). This genus contains some (and might contain all) of the South African redfins. It was originally proposed as a subgenus but has since been found worthy of recognition as a full genus.
This genus is restricted to southern Africa; all of its species were formerly placed in Barbus, the genus of typical barbels and their relatives. One taxon was originally described as P. leonhardi – this, however, was an European fish for which the genus was erroneously proposed anew. It has since turned out to be nothing other than the barbel B. peloponnesius.[1]
Species and systematics
Pseudobarbus was placed in the paraphyletic "subfamily" Barbinae by those that recognize that group. But if not included in the Cyprininae outright it might – like the other small African barbs – belong to an as yet unnamed subfamily.[2]
There are currently eight recognized species in this genus:[3][4]
- Pseudobarbus afer (W. K. H. Peters, 1864) (Eastern Cape Redfin)
- Pseudobarbus asper (Boulenger, 1911) (Smallscale Redfin)
- Pseudobarbus burchelli (A. Smith, 1841) (Burchell's Redfin, Tradouw Redfin, Tradou Redfin)
- Pseudobarbus burgi (Boulenger, 1911) (Berg River Redfin, Berg Redfin)
- Pseudobarbus phlegethon (Barnard, 1938) (Fiery Redfin)
- Pseudobarbus quathlambae (Barnard, 1938) (Maluti Redfin, Maluti Minnow)
- Pseudobarbus skeltoni Chakona & Swartz, 2013[4]
- Pseudobarbus tenuis (Barnard, 1938) (Slender Redfin)
One possible undescribed species is known:
- Pseudobarbus sp. 'Verlorenvlei' (formerly in P. burgi)
Some other South Africa "redfin" barb are presently placed in Barbus, mainly due to a lack of taxonomic and systematic study of that huge "wastebin genus". They form a clade distinct from the traditional Pseudobarbus and are more plesiomorphic. Certainly, they do not belong in the typical barbel genus however, and as this is split up, the following species may well end up here:[2]
- Barbus andrewi – Cape Whitefish, Berg-breede River Whitefish
- Barbus calidus – Clanwilliam Redfin
- Barbus erubescens – Twee River Redfin, Twee Redfin
- Barbus serra – Sawfin, Clanwilliam Sawfin
- Barbus trevelyani – Border Barb
Footnotes
 |
Wikispecies has information related to: Pseudobarbus |
- ↑ FishBase [2009]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 de Graaf et al. (2007)
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). Species of Pseudobarbus in FishBase. April 2013 version.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chakona, A. & Swartz, E.R. (2013): A new redfin species, Pseudobarbus skeltoni (Cyprinidae, Teleostei), from the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. Zootaxa, 3686 (5): 565–577.
References
- de Graaf, Martin; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Samallo, Johannis & Sibbing, Ferdinand A. (2007): Evolutionary origin of Lake Tana's (Ethiopia) small Barbus species: indications of rapid ecological divergence and speciation. Anim. Biol. 57(1): 39-48. doi:10.1163/157075607780002069 (HTML abstract)
- Swartz, E. & Impson, D. (2007). Pseudobarbus burgi. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 20 September 2009.