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Chitala
Chitala is a genus of fish of the family Notopteridae. This genus contains six species, some of which are important in aquaculture and the aquarium industry. They are commonly known as the Asian knifefishes or featherbacks. They are native to freshwater in South East and Southeast Asia.
The largest fish in the genus (and also the family) is Chitala lopis, which grows up to a length of 1.5 m (4.9 ft). Other well-known species are the clown knifefish (C. ornata) and the Indochina knifefish (C. blanci).
6 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 6 known species

Clown Knifefish
speciesChitala ornata

Indian Featherback
speciesChitala chitala

Giant Featherback
speciesChitala lopis

Indochinese Featherback
speciesChitala blanci

Bornean Featherback
speciesChitala borneensis

Sumatran Featherback
speciesChitala hypselonotus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Chitala in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 87433.