Helicophagus

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

Helicophagus leptorhynchus
Ng & Kottelat, 2000 Helicophagus typus
Bleeker, 1858 Helicophagus waandersii
Bleeker, 1858

Helicophagus is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Pangasiidae. It includes three species, H. leptorhynchus, H. typus, and H. waandersii.[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]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa 1418: 1–628. 
  2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b "Helicphagus typus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  4. ^ "Helicophagus leptorhynchus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d "Helicophagus waandersii". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
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