Hydrocynus
Genus of fishes / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Hydrocynus?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
Hydrocynus is a genus of large characin fish in the family Alestidae commonly called "tigerfish," native to the African continent. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ ("water"[1]) + κύων ("dog"[1]). (In fact, this fish is popularly referred to as poisson chien (dog fish) in French-speaking West Africa.) The genus contains five species,[2] all popularly known as "African tigerfish" for their fierce predatory behaviour and other characteristics that make them excellent game fish.[3] Hydrocynus are normally piscivorous,[4] but H. vittatus is proven to prey on birds in flight.[5]
Quick Facts Hydrocynus, Scientific classification ...
Hydrocynus | |
---|---|
The five currently recognized species. From top to bottom: H. vittatus, H. tanzaniae, H. forskahlii, H. brevis and H. goliath | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Characiformes |
Family: | Alestidae |
Subfamily: | Alestinae |
Genus: | Hydrocynus Cuvier, 1816 |
Type species | |
Hydrocyon forskahlii Cuvier, 1819 | |
Species | |
5, see text. |
Close