Osteoglossidae

Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. They are commonly known as bonytongues. The family contains two extant subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. The extinct Phareodontinae are known from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene.

Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that originated some time during the Cretaceous, and are placed in the actinopterygiid order Osteoglossiformes. As traditionally defined, the family includes several extant species from South America, one from Africa, two from Asia, and two from Australia. Although currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the tropics, the group was much more widespread during the Cretaceous and Paleogene, with genera known from North America and Europe, including marine taxa such as Brychaetus. An indeterminate marine osteoglossid is known to have inhabited the seas around Greenland in the Early Paleocene. The earliest known osteoglossid is Cretophareodus from the middle Campanian of the Dinosaur Park Formation, Canada, but a potentially older genus may be Chanopsis from the Albian of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The following taxa are known from the family:


 * Family Osteoglossidae Bonaparte, 1831
 * Genus ?†Chanopsis Casier, 1961
 * Genus ?†Chauliopareion Murray and Wilson, 2005 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)
 * Genus ?†Singida Greenwood & Patterson, 1967 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)
 * Subfamily Arapaiminae Bonaparte, 1846
 * Genus Arapaima J. P. Müller, 1843
 * Genus Heterotis Rüppell, 1828
 * Genus ?†Joffrichthys Li and Wilson, 1996 (possibly a basal osteoglossiform)
 * Genus †Sinoglossus Su, 1986
 * Genus †Thrissopterus Heckel, 1856
 * Subfamily Osteoglossinae Bonaparte, 1831
 * Genus Osteoglossum Cuvier, 1829
 * Genus Scleropages Günther, 1864
 * Subfamily †Phareodontinae Taverne, 1979
 * Genus †Brychaetoides Bonde, 2008
 * Genus †Brychaetus Woodward, 1901
 * Genus †Cretophareodus Li, 1996
 * Genus ?†Foreyichthys Taverne, 1979
 * Genus †Furichthys Bonde, 2008
 * Genus ?†Heterosteoglossum Bonde, 2008
 * Genus †Macroprosopon Capobianco, Zouhri & Friedman, 2024
 * Genus †Magnigena Forey & Hilton, 2010
 * Genus †Monopteros Volta, 1796
 * Genus †Musperia Sanders, 1934
 * Genus ?†Opsithrissops Daniltshenko, 1968
 * Genus †Phareoides Taverne, 1973 (likely synonymous with Phareodus)
 * Genus †Phareodus Leidy, 1873
 * Genus †Phareodusichthys Gayet, 1991
 * Genus †Ridewoodichthys Taverne, 2009
 * Genus †Taverneichthys Kumar, Rana & Paliwal, 2005
 * Genus †Xosteoglossid Bonde, 2008