Helicophagus

Helicophagus is a genus of shark catfishes native to Southeast Asia.

Helicophagus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Pangasiidae
Genus: Helicophagus
Bleeker, 1858
Type species
Helicophagus typus
Bleeker, 1858

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:[1]

H. leptorhynchus is known from the Chao Phraya and Mekong River drainages in Indochina.[2] H. typus inhabits rivers of Sumatra and southeast Borneo.[3] H. waandersii is known from medium- to large-sized rivers of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia.[2]

H. leptorhynchus grows to about 47.2 centimetres (18.6 in) SL.[4] H. typus reaches a length of about 37.7 cm (14.8 in) TL.[3] H. waandersii has a maximum recorded length of about 70.0 cm (27.6 in) TL.[5]

The stomachs of the specimens of H. waandersii are more or less filled with mollusks, usually bivalves.[5] H. waandersii enters flooded forests.[5] H. waandersii migrates upstream when water levels begin to rise at the beginning of the flood season and moves downstream as water clears at the end of the flood season.[5]

Unlike H. waandersii, H. leptorhynchus stays in permanent river channels and does not move into flooded forests. However, it also migrates upstream and downstream with changes in the water level.[2] H. leptorhynchus feeds primarily on bivalves.[2]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Helicophagus in FishBase. February 2012 version.
  2. Ng, Heok Hee; Kottelat, Maurice (2000). "Helicophagus leptorhynchus, a New Species of Molluscivorous Catfish from Indochina (Teleostei: Pangasiidae)" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 48 (1): 55–58.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Helicphagus typus" in FishBase. July 2007 version.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Helicophagus leptorhynchus" in FishBase. July 2007 version.
  5. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Helicophagus waandersii" in FishBase. July 2007 version.
  • Sitthi Kulabtong, Sawika Kunlapapuk and Piyathap Avakul. 2012. Some Fishery Biology of Molluscivorous Catfish,Helicophagus leptorhynchus in Thailand. Journal of Life Sciences 6(8):913-916.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.