Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 13, 2026

Polypterus weeksii

Polypterus weeksii, the mottled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in the central basin of the Congo River. It grows to about 54 cm in head-to-tail length.

Last revised
Jun 13, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
181 w
Citations
6
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Polypterus weeksii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Polypteriformes
Family: Polypteridae
Genus: Polypterus
Species:
P. weeksii
Binomial name
Polypterus weeksii
Boulenger, 1898
Synonyms23
  • Polypterus schoutedeni Pellegrin 1923

Polypterus weeksii, the mottled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in the central basin of the Congo River.2 It grows to about 54 cm in head-to-tail length.2

Named in honor of John Henry Weeks (1861-1924), Baptist missionary, ethnographer, explorer and diarist, who collected type at his mission station in Monsembe, upper Congo River, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).4

References

References

  1. Moelants, T. (2010). "Polypterus weeksii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010 e.T182448A7886605. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T182448A7886605.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Polypterus weeksi". FishBase. February 2018 version.
  3. Van Der Laan, Richard; Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ronald (11 November 2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (1): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order POLYPTERIFORMES (Bichirs)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 28 February 2021.