Giant river-catfish (Sperata seenghala)

Scientific name: Sperata seenghala Sykes, 1839

Giant river-catfish (Sperata seenghala)

The Giant river-catfish (Sperata seenghala) is a freshwater fish of the family Bagridae. Native range: Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Reported from Thailand and Yunnan, China.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 12. Body elongate and compressed; snout broad and spatulate. Barbels extend posteriorly to pelvic fins or beyond to anal fin. Dorsal spine weakly serrated on its posterior edge; adipose fin base short, about as long as the rayed dorsal fin base. Color is brownish-gray on back, silvery on flanks and belly. A dark well-defined spot is on the adipose dorsal fin.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Sperata seenghala
Family
Bagridae (Bagrid catfishes)
Order
Siluriformes (Catfish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
150
Common length
40.0
Environment
Freshwater; brackish; demersal; potamodromous
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Asia: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Reported from Thailand and Yunnan, China.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: likely future use; gamefish: yes
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec = 20,064)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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