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Various True Bony Fishes

African Butterflyfish Pantodon buchholzi Photo © Animal-World

Click on the small images or names below
to access information on each type of True Bony Fish.

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   The category "Various True Bony Fishes" is kind of a catch-all for a lot of families that don't fit into any other group!

   There are about 25 families in the "Various True Bony Fishes" category. Included here are some of the more interesting fish like the butterflyfish, arowanas, flounders, rainbows, and needlefish.

• True Bony Fish families having enough species to be placed in their own categories
  can be found here: eels, knifefish, and puffers
• Another interesting category of very similar fish, but that are much older in an evolutionary sense than the True Bony Fishes, are the "Pseudo-Bony fishes". These include such families as gars, pikes, lungfish, and sturgeonfish to name a few.

We will start the "Various True Bony Fishes" category out with these interesting families:

• Osteoglossidae: The bony-tongued fishes which includes the Arowana.
• Pantodontidae: An easy family because it contains only one fish, the African Butterflyfish.
• Soleidae: The flatfishes, including fish such as tonguefish, soles and flounders.

For more Information on keeping freshwater fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Click on the small images below to access information on each type of fish:

   The bony-tongued fishes comprise a number of large freshwater species. There are four genera and six species.

   The Arapaina (Arapaina gigas) is one of the largest of all freshwater fish. Another member of this family, the arowana (of which there are several kinds) is a fairly common aquarium fish that usually surprises the owner with its' size and beauty.

Arowana or Silver Arowana
Osteoglossum bicirrhosum

   This family is an easy one since it contains only one fish, the Butterflyfish, African Butterflyfish or Freshwater Butterflyfish.

   The Panodontidae is very similar to the Osteoglossidae family but has significant differences. The anal fin of the male has been transformed into the genital organ. Also, the butterflyfish eggs are fertilized internally so the fry are born alive. They are found in many parts of tropical Africa.

Butterflyfish, African Butterflyfish
Pantodon buchholzi

Flatfishes: Tonguefish, Soles, Flounders
Family: Soleidae

   This family consists of 22 genera containing 89 species.

   The name sole come from the latin word 'solea' which means sandal. As both the name 'sole' and the name 'flatfish' suggest, these are flat, bottom dwelling fish. They have elongated bodies with both eyes on one side (the right side) and a single gill shaped like a slit at the base of the throat. They can breathe atmostpheric air both through this gill cavity and from parts of the hind gut, enabling some species to live at the waters edge.
   These fish are found in tropical areas of America, Africa, Asia, and Australia; primarily in the ocean but with some that are found in both brackish and freshwaters.

Tonguefish Freshwater Sole ~ Flounder
Brachirus panoides

Don't see your favorite flounder, arowana, needlefish,
or other True Bony Fish here?
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