Rita (fish)
Genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rita (from the Bengali name of Rita rita),[1] commonly known as velvet catfishes, is a genus of catfish found in South Asia. It is the only member of the family Ritidae.[2] These species have a single pair of mandibular barbels, an elongated Weberian apparatus firmly sutured to the basioccipital and the sensory canal on the posttemporal enclosed with bone.[3]
| Rita Temporal range: Lower Pliocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rita rita | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Superfamily: | Bagroidea |
| Family: | Ritidae Bleeker, 1858 |
| Genus: | Rita Bleeker, 1853 |
| Type species | |
| Pimelodus rita Hamilton, 1822 | |
Species
There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus:
- Rita bakalu K. K. Lal, Dwivedi & R. K. Singh, 2016 [4]
- Rita chrysea F. Day, 1877
- Rita gogra (Sykes, 1839)
- Rita kuturnee (Sykes, 1839)
- Rita macracanthus H. H. Ng, 2004
- Rita rita (F. Hamilton, 1822)
- Rita sacerdotum J. Anderson, 1879
In addition, the fossil species Rita grandiscutata is known from the Early Pliocene-aged sediments in the Siwalik Hills of Punjab.[5]