Giant catfish

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Giant catfish
FMIB 52350 Brachyplatystoma goeldii.jpeg

Giant antenna catfish ( Brachyplatystoma filamentosum )

Systematics
Cohort : Otomorpha
Sub-cohort : Ostariophysi
Order : Catfish (Siluriformes)
Family : Antennae (Pimelodidae)
Genre : Brachyplatystoma
Type : Giant catfish
Scientific name
Brachyplatystoma filamentosum
( Lichtenstein , 1819)

The giant catfish ( Brachyplatystoma filamentosum ), engl. Goliath Catfish, port. Piraíba, local pirate Inga, Pirananbu, Lau-Lau, called in Guyana also Kumakuma, is a particularly great representative of catfish from the Amazon system of South America .

features

Brachyplatystoma filamentosum is a very large catfish that can reach a maximum body length of 360 cm TL . It is uniformly brown to gray in color, the ventral side is whitish. The barbels are long, the maxillary barbels extend over the base of the dorsal fin to the caudal fin . There is a short adipose fin , its size corresponds to that of the anal fin . Its eyes are small, the muzzle short, the mouth below.

distribution

The giant catfish is found mainly in large streams such as the Rio Solimões and Amazonas in Peru and Brazil. There is evidence of stocks in the Amazon river system such as the Río Ucayali , Rio Tocatíns , Rio Araguaia , Rio Teles Pires in Mato Grosso, Rio Xingú , as well as in the Orinoco and Rio Paraná to Argentina .

Occurrence and way of life

Giant aerial catfish live in large freshwater rivers and their floodplains up to brackish water at the mouth of the Amazon, preferably in areas with strong currents, in rapids and mostly at great depths. The way of life of the large predatory fish is described as demersal and potamodrom , as they can cover great distances on the way to their spawning grounds. Young fish (port. Filhotes) are also caught in the mouth of the rivers. Their prey includes fish, waterfowl and, in exceptional cases, mammals such as smaller ape species. In relation to their high body weight, the fish have a pronounced predatory behavior with a correspondingly high need for food. Similar to piranhas , they play an important role in the Amazon ecosystem as “ scavengers ” on the bottom of the water. Giant aerial catfish develop their greatest activity mainly at night, when they use their sensory organs to locate prey fish in the sediment-murky waters. While juvenile fish still show a light drawing with spots on the back and sides, older specimens are mostly colored dark gray, as an adaptation to life in great depths on the water floor. Giant antennae catfish have leathery skin and spiky dorsal fins that can protect them from predatory fish.

Large specimens live mainly as solitary animals and are ready to spawn after two to three years. After fertilization, the milkers take care of the brood by guarding the clutch from other spawners. The hatched brood feed on the detritus at the bottom of the water. After six to eight months, their gender-specific characteristics are already pronounced. During this period, the juvenile fish are the preferred prey for predatory fish, Amazon otters and fish-eating water birds.

use

Giant catfish are caught with gill nets and longlines; their meat is considered to be of high quality. In addition to B. filamentosum , B. capapretum is also caught as Piraíba . A distinction is possible on the premaxillary teeth , but the head is usually removed before landing so that both types are included in B. filamentosum . In many places, such as in the metropolitan area of Manaus and Belém , the stocks of Brachyplatystoma filamentosum are already heavily overfished. The giant catfish is of local importance for sport fishermen. It is also occasionally sold as an aquarium fish.

Prejudice and legend building

Although in rare cases human body parts have been found in the stomachs of the fish, attacks by giant catfish on humans are not known. Fatal accidents are said to have occurred when fishermen were pulled into the water by the very strong animals and drowned.

Theodore Roosevelt reported in his book Through the Brazilian Wilderness in 1914 that the big catfish were feared by swimmers, because the fish with their big mouth and their strength would be strong enough to pull a person underwater.

Some Indian myths of the Tupi-Guarani deal with the Piraiba catfish.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ from the Tupí language "mother of the river"
  2. ^ Check List of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. EDIPUCRS, 2003, p. 435.
  3. ^ Jan HA Mol: The Freshwater Fishes of Suriname. Brill Academic Publishers, 2012, ISBN 978-9004210745 , p. 512.
  4. ↑ Giant Antenna Catfish on Fishbase.org (English)
  5. ↑ living at the bottom of the water
  6. ↑ the juvenile form of this species is called " filhote " = offspring up to a relatively high weight
  7. ↑ Giuliano Maia Huergo et al. : Molecular genetics as a tool for fisheries management in the Brazilian Amazon: Piraíba (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum and Brachyplatystoma capapretum) (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) in white-water rivers. In: Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences , 2011, pp. 280-289. ( Online )
  8. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / animal.discovery.com
  9. ^ Tyler McMahon and Paul Diamond: Fishing's Greatest Misadventures. Wilderness Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0976951643 , pp. 24-27.
  10. ↑ http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/lustig/guarani/tupi-guarani-tradition.htm

literature

  • Michael Goulding: The Fishes and the Forest, Explorations in Amazonian Ecology. , University of California Press, 1981, ISBN 978-0520041318 .
  • Gene S. Helfman: Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources. , Island Press , 2007, ISBN 978-1559635950 .

Web links

  • Photos of captured Piraiba catfish: [1] [2]