Revalidation of Hepsetus cuvieri (Castelnau, 1861) (Characiformes: Hepsetidae) from the Quanza, Zambezi and southern part of the Congo ichthyofaunal provinces

Hepsetus cuvieri (Castelnau, 1861), originally described from lac N'gami (Botswana) and synonymized with H. odoe (Bloch, 1794) by Roberts (1984), is revalidated. Hepsetus cuvieri can be readily distinguished from H. odoe based on a lower total number of gill rakers (8-13 versus 14-21); a generally higher number of scales between the dorsal fin and the lateral line (101/2-111/2 versus 71/2-101/2) and a higher number of scales between the adipose fin and the lateral line (61/2-71/2 versus 41/2-61/2) and other characters. A neotype is designated, as the holotype of this nominal species is apparently lost. Hepsetus cuvieri is restricted to the Quanza, Zambezi ichthyofaunal provinces and the southern part of the Congo Basin, i. e. the Congo ichthyofaunal province.