Pseudoplatystoma
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 Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum
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P. corruscans |
Pseudoplatystoma is a genus of several South American catfish species of family Pimelodidae. In their native waters, these fish may be called Surubí in Spanish. This genus contains the fish commonly known as the tiger shovelnose catfish in the aquarium hobby, though the species in this genus are relatively easy to confuse. They inhabit the major rivers of north-eastern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. They prefer the main channels and tend to stay at maximum depth. They have robust bodies, and are important food fish.
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[edit] Physical characteristics
These fish are all large catfish. P. corruscans reaches almost 170 cm in length.[1] P. tigrinum may reach about 130 cm in length.[2] P. fasciatum reaches the least impressive 104 cm in length.[3] They have a large, depressed head with an expandable mouth. The eyes and teeth are small. They exhibit typical barbels of catfish, the maxillary barbels sometimes being quite long, especially in juveniles.
P. corruscans, the spotted sorubim, is distinctly different from the other two species as the adult form has a primarily spotted pattern. Its colour is light yellow-brown, going from blackish to almost white from back to belly. It has elongated black dots on the body and fins, as well as white streaks in the lateral and dorsal areas. However, both P. fasciatum, the barred sorubim, and P. corruscans, the tiger sorubim, exhibit a striped pattern. The stripes can be of varying density, and because of the wide range these fish inhabit, there is intraspecific variation.[citation needed]
Juvenile Pseudoplatystoma are quite different in appearance from adults. These fishes' juvenile coloration differs from their adult coloration, and the patterning is different. In the juvenile, the fish is dark on its back with an obvious boundary between the white of its sides and belly; also, the fish lacks stripes of P. fasciatum and P. tigrinum, but has spots instead. The adult colour is brown-olive, with about 13 or 14 dark transverse bands reaching up to the belly, which is white with a few dark spots.[citation needed]
[edit] Distribution and Habitat
P. corruscans inhabits the basins of the Paraná River and the São Francisco River.[1] P. fasciatum inhabits the Amazon, Corantijn, Essequibo, Orinoco and Paraná River basins.[3] P. tigrinum is found in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins.[2]
P. fasciatum is found in river beds and sometimes in flooded forests. Though it is biologically similar to P. tigrinum, this fish seems to favor shadier streams.[3] P. tigrinum occurs in estuarine zones, mainly upstream of the first rapids up to the basin's headwaters. They live in the main bed of slow or fast zones, and the juveniles particularly live in flooded forests.[2]
Pseudoplatystoma are all migratory fish.[1][3] At the end of the dry season, P. tigrinum can migrate at the same time as its prey, and then return at the end of the rainy season.[2]
[edit] Diet
These fish are nocturnal hunters. They are primarily piscivorous, feeding on fish such as knifefish, cichlids, loricariids, and characins.[1][3] They may consume on other fish such as sábalos, Prochilodus lineatus, and bogas, Leporinus obtusidens, as well as crustaceans.[citation needed] Opportunistic feeders, they may also feed on crustaceans such as crabs or shrimps.
[edit] Relationship to humans
Pseudoplatystoma are important food fish for human consumption.[1] P. fasciatum has a succulent yellowish flesh that is without bones.[3] P. tigrinum is the most important catfish in gill-net fisheries of Guaporé and Marmoré rivers.[2] In the Argentine province of Entre Ríos alone, about 27,000 tonnes of Pseudoplatystoma sp. are obtained every year, comprising 70 to 80% of the total capture there, mostly concentrated on the fishing area near the city of Victoria, opposite Rosario, Santa Fe.[citation needed]
P. fasciatum and P. tigrinum are often found in public aquariums.[3][2]
[edit] In the aquarium
P. fasciatum and P. tigrinum appear in the aquarium hobby, where they are most often sold under the name "tiger shovelnose" or "tiger shovelnose catfish". These fish prove to be hardy. However, the large adult size is problematic for both matters of housing as well as finding suitable tankmates that will not be consumed. With the appetite these fish have, finding enough good food may present some difficulty.[4]
[edit] Species
There are three species in this genus.
- Spotted Sorubim Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Spix and Agassiz, 1829)
- Barred Sorubim Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Tiger Sorubim Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1840)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "Pseudoplatystoma corruscans". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Apr 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f "Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Apr 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. Apr 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ Axelrod, Herbert, R. (1996). Exotic Tropical Fishes. T.F.H. Publications.. ISBN 0-87666-543-1.
[edit] External links
- Descripción de Especies Ictícolas (in Spanish)
- Entre Ríos - Pesca comercial (in Spanish)
