Gilded catfish

Gilded catfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Siluriformes
Family:Pimelodidae
Genus:Zungaro
Species: †Z. zungaro
Binomial name
Zungaro zungaro
(Humboldt in Humboldt and Valenciennes, 1821)
Subspecies
  • Z. z. mangurus
    (Valenciennes, 1835)
  • Z. z. zungaro
    (Humboldt, 1821)
Synonyms
  • Pimelodus zungaro
    Humboldt, 1821
  • Bagrus flavicans
    Castelnau, 1855
  • Zungaro humboldtii
    Bleeker, 1858
  • Paulicea luetkeni
    (Steindachner, 1877)

The gilded catfish or jau (Zungaro zungaro) is a South American catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Pimelodidae.

Taxonomy

By some sources, it is the only species of the monotypic genus Zungaro.[1] However, some sources list other species as valid, such as Zungaro jahu.[2] This species may be referred to by one of its synonyms, Brachyplatystoma flavicans.[3] This species contains two subspecies, Z. z. mangurus and Z. z. zungaro.[4]

Distribution and habitat

They are sexually mature upon reaching 10 kg (22 lb) weight.[3] This fish native to the Orinoco and Amazon basins; in the Amazon, this fish is found quite upstream, in the main bed of the big tributaries with muddy bottoms.[3]

Description

This fish reaches 140 cm (55 in) in total length, and specimens measuring 130 cm (51 in) and weighing 50 kg (110 lb) are not rare.[3] These fish are mainly piscivorous, hunt at night, and sometimes go into flood-prone areas of rivers. Some migrations in pursuit of migrating Triportheus and Anodus have been reported. The nursery ground is at the mouths of rivers.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). Species of Zungaro in FishBase. May 2007 version.
  2. ↑ Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Zungaro zungaro" in FishBase. February 2012 version.
  4. ↑ "Zungaro zungaro". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved May 2007. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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