Heterobranchus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Miocene|present}}

| image = FMIB 45843 Heterobranchus macronema.jpeg

| image_caption = Heterobranchus isopterus

| taxon = Heterobranchus

| authority = É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809

| type_species = Heterobranchus bidorsalis

| type_species_authority = É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = 6, see text.

}}

Heterobranchus is a genus of airbreathing catfishes native to Africa.

Depending on the exact species involved, fish of this genus reach from {{convert|64|to|150|cm|in|abbr=on}} with the giant vundu (H. longifilis) being the largest completely freshwater fish in southern Africa, reaching {{convert|150|cm|in|abbr=on}} SL and weighing up to {{convert|55|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.

This genus had a wider distribution in the past. The extinct species H. palaeindicus is known from the Early Pliocene of India (Siwalik Hills). The extinct species H. austriacus was widely distributed throughout central, western, and eastern Europe during the late Miocene. H. austriacus likely immigrated from Africa to Europe, potentially in repeated waves, when land connections formed between both continents around this time.{{Cite journal |last=Kovalchuk |first=Oleksandr |last2=Ferraris |first2=Carl J. |date=2016 |title=Late Cenozoic catfishes of Southeastern Europe with inference to their taxonomy and palaeogeography |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2016/1594-cenozoic-catfishes-of-europe |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=English |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages= |doi=10.26879/616 |issn=}}