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Hamid Badar Osmany (3)

Clarias magur was described by Hamilton (1822) from gangetic provinces. The identity of the southern form of Clarias requires verification. The range of distribution of Clarias batrachus is now restricted to Sunda Islands (type locality Java) (Ng and Kottelat 2008). Habitat: Clarias magur is distributed in Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins in northern and northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh (Ng and Kottelat 2008). They are commonly found in freshwater and brackish water. They can exist in cloudy, low-oxygen waters. Diet: It is an omnivore. Walking catfish are mainly active at night and prey on items such as insect larvae, fish eggs, fish and occasionally plant material. Etymology: The specific name magur: magur and maghur, Assamese and Bengali names, respectively, for this catfish (and for C. batrachus) along the Ganges River in India. Remarks: Clarias magur is highly threatened by exploitation, threats to breeding grounds due to wetland conversion and pesticides in paddy fields, and from introduction of the Thai magur. Population declines of more than 50% in the last few years and predicted decline at the same or slightly higher rate throughout the species range makes it qualify for the Endangered category, (IUCN 2010) it also needs updating.

Wagur

Clarias assamensis, Clarias jagur, Clarias marpus, Macropteronotus jagur, Macropteronotus magur, Plotosus hamiltonii

Clariidae

Africa: Ganges River, India & Bangladesh.

21.5cm. (8¼ins)

23-28°c (73-83°f)

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (02/2024).
Ng, H.H. and M. Kottelat, 2008. The identity of Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus, 1758), with the designation of a neotype (Teleostei: Clariidae). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 153:725-732.
Vishwanath, W. 2010. Clarias magur. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.