Arowana Relation to african butterfly fish?

Question

ive had both i currently have my silver arowana but when i had a butterfly fish i noticed a striking resemblince in there docile but agressie nature and the facial fetures are very close is there a way back relation ?

Answer 1

Good observation!

Not very closely related, though. Arowanas are in the family Osteoglossidae but African butterflies are in the family Pantodontidae. I'd consider ths more a case of convergent evolution where two unrealted organisms (like bats and birds) develop similar characteristics because of shared environments or niches. In the case of the fish, both happen to be top-swimming predators that look for insects on or near the surface of the water.

In looking up their taxonomy, the closest level of classification that contains both would be Order (Osteoglossiformes, or bony tongued fish). To give an example of the "closeness" (or lack thereof) of animals in the same order, the order for humans contains all primates (apes, monkeys, and lemurs).

Answer 2

Interesting question,it will bear looking in to. Never thought of this but there are some similarities.