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Encheloclarias kelioides Ng & Lim, 1993

Image contributors to this species:

sharkdevotee (1) Jiayuan Lin (2)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: Dorsal soft rays (total): 25; Anal soft rays: 51 - 53. Habitat: This species is an obligate peat swamp fish that has a restricted range in the Malay Peninsula, and was recently discovered within a restricted range in Singapore. The species may occur elsewhere, but is also thought to have likely undergone possible extirpations from its former range. Occurs in shaded blackwaters in coastal peat swamps about 20 m from the sea, among submerged shore vegetation and branches at a depth between 0.5 and 1.5 m. Etymology: The genus name Encheloclarius: énchelys (Greek), eel, i.e., an eel-like Clarias, referring to the shape of E. tapeinopterus. The specific name kelioides: –oides, Neo-Latin from ei´dos (Greek), form or shape: Ikan Keli (Ikan = fish), Malay name for species in the genus Clarias, which it superficially resembles. Remarks: Given ongoing threats of land conversion associated with urban development, large-scale logging, and agricultural practices, a continuing decline in the AOO, habitat quality, and the number of mature individuals is also inferred. Its very restrictive range is confined to 1-3 locations, spanning an EOO of c. 16,000 km2; thus, this species is assessed as Vulnerable. Future extensive sampling is required across the range of this species (IUCN 2023).

Common Name:

None

Synonyms:

None

Family:

Clariidae

Distribution:

Southeast Asia: Pahang and Johor, eastern Peninsular Malaysia and Nee Soon Swamp Forest, Singapore; and possibly central Sumatra. Type locality: Peninsular Malaysia: Pahang, south of Pekan, blackwater stream across road, at 69 km stone on road from Mersing to Pekan.

Size:

6.5cm. (2¾ins)

Temp:

22-25°C (71-77°F)

p.H.

6.5-7.5.

Reference:

Ahmad, A.B. & Fernando, E. 2023. Encheloclarias kelioides. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2024. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 06/2024 ).
Ng, P.K.L. and K.K.P. Lim, 1993. The Southeast Asian catfish genus Encheloclarias (Teleostei: Clariidae), with descriptions of four new species. Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 4(1):21-37.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

Family: Clariidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Encheloclarias kelioides

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