Horabagrus

Horabagrus
Horabagrus brachysoma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Horabagrus
Jayaram, 1955
Type species
Pseudobagrus brachysoma
Günther, 1864

Horabagrus is a genus of catfish (order Siluriformes) endemic to rivers in the Western Ghats in Kerala and Karnataka, India. H. brachysoma is an important food fish and members of this genus can be found in the aquarium trade.

Taxonomy

The genus Horabagrus is usually classified under the family Bagridae, but there are disagreements. The genus name is after the Indian zoologist Sunder Lal Hora. Though listed under Bagridae, Horabagrus is not listed under either of the two Bagrid subfamilies by the All Catfish Species Inventory.[1] In Nelson (2006), the genus is provisionally placed in the family Schilbeidae, where it is sometimes recognized as its own subfamily. In de Pinna (1998), this genus is classified as sister to the catfishes Pangasiidae and above, which would require a separate family.[2] This genus has also been classified in its own family Horabagridae.[3] In a 2007 paper, Horabagrus was not classified under any current catfish families.[4]

Species

There are currently 2 recognized species in this genus: [5]

In the aquarium

A juvenile Horabagrus catfish in an aquarium

H. brachysoma is a common fish in the aquarium trade. H. nigricollaris is more seldom seen because it is not commercially farmed like H. brachysoma .[6] Nevertheless, the care for these two species is similar. These fish are adaptable and are not picky about water conditions; also, they are hardy and easy to feed. However, these fish are light-shy and require plants or decorations to hide underneath for darkness; these fish are relatively secretive during the day.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bagridae genera". All Catfish Species Inventory. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  2. ↑ Nelson, J.S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.
  3. ↑ Sullivan, J.P., Lundberg, J.G. & Hardman, M. (2006). "A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 41 (3): 636–662. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.044.
  4. ↑ Ferraris, C.J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types". Zootaxa, 1418: 1–628.
  5. ↑ Ali, A., Katwate, U., Philip, S., Dhaneesh, K.V., Bijukumar, A., Raghavan, R. & Dahanukar, N. (2014): Horabagrus melanosoma: a junior synonym of Horabagrus brachysoma (Teleostei: Horabagridae). Zootaxa, 3881 (4): 373–384.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "PlanetCatfish::Catfish of the Month::September 2001". 2005-07-14. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  7. ↑ "PlanetCatfish::Cat-eLog::Horabagrus brachysoma". 2006-02-26. Retrieved 2007-05-18.