CreatureData

Fossil cat

Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)

Status not recordedbony fish

The fossil cat (Heteropneustes fossilis) is a species in the family Heteropneustidae, order Siluriformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the fossil cat

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the fossil cat live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the fossil cat as introduced in 2 countries.

  1. Iran
  2. Iraq

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the fossil cat endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the fossil cat classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderSiluriformes
  5. familyHeteropneustidae
  6. genusHeteropneustes
  7. SpeciesHeteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)

Synonyms Saccobranchus fossilis, Saccobranchus microcephalus, Saccobranchus singio, Silurus biserratus, Silurus fossilis, Silurus laticeps, Silurus singio

Other names and names in other languages (19)
  • Asian stinging catfishEnglish
  • Stinging catfishEnglish
  • قط أحفوريArabic
  • SingeeAssamese
  • ShingiBangla
  • keříčkovec dvoupásýCzech
  • Gællesæk-ålemalleDanish
  • DudehPersian
  • सिंघीHindi
  • インドナマズJapanese
  • Nga-gyiBurmese
  • SinghiNepali
  • Сом мешкожаберныйRussian
  • HungaSinhala
  • ปลาจีดอินเดียThai
  • LoharUrdu
  • سلور لساع آسيويArabic
  • BitchuHindi
  • レッドキャットJapanese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the fossil cat

Other species in the same genus Heteropneustes.

Airsac catfish

Heteropneustes microps

HeteropneustidaeNo free photo yet

Air-sac catfish

Heteropneustes kemratensis

HeteropneustidaeNo free photo yet

CompareFossil cat vs Airsac catfishFossil cat vs Air-sac catfishFossil cat vs Heteropneustes longipectoralisFossil cat vs Heteropneustes nani

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the fossil cat an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the fossil cat as introduced in 2 countries: Iran and Iraq, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the fossil cat?

The fossil cat (Heteropneustes fossilis) belongs to the family Heteropneustidae in the order Siluriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Fossil cat (Heteropneustes fossilis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/fossil-cat

MLA

“Fossil cat (Heteropneustes fossilis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/fossil-cat.

BibTeX
@misc{fossil_cat_2026,
  title = {Fossil cat (Heteropneustes fossilis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/fossil-cat},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}