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Guinean bichir

species of fish

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 28, 2024
Entity authorityQ1099725 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Guinean bichir (Polypterus ansorgii) is a ray-finned fish from rivers and other freshwater habitats in Western Africa, ranging from Guinea-Bissau to Nigeria. It reaches a maximum length of 72 cm (28 in), is greenish-brown to black in color, and has large, dark spots and blotches on its sides. On mature specimens, the bottom jaw may protrude very slightly. It is similar to some other bichirs with which it can be confused.

Named in honor of explorer William John Ansorge (1850-1913), who collected type specimen.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Guinean bichir” is species of fish. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Guinean, bichir and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1850, 1913—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Guinean, bichir and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of fish” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 28, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q1099725. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1850 and 1913.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Guinean bichir”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Guinean bichir primary sources, Guinean bichir archive and Guinean research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Guinean bichir”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Guinean bichir” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.