Pangasius hypophthalmus
(Sauvage, 1878)
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his month we welcome back regular U.K. contributor Chris Ralph
with his insight on the "Iridescent Shark", Pangasius
hypophthalmus, and his
trepidation on keeping this large catfish in the home aquarium.
Pangasius hypophthalmus is a catfish which should never be
imported due to the eventual size that it can attain, and the
fact that it is a very nervous and skittish fish, which does not
fare well in the confines of cramped aquaria. All too often this
catfish is offered for sale as a juvenile fish at around 75-100mm
and is quite often labelled as Pangasius sutchi or Iridescent
Shark.
A couple of years ago whilst on a day
out with Kate looking at some aquatic retailers we were horrified
to find that this catfish was being offered as the fish of the
week on a buy one get one free basis. Needless to say we shall
not be venturing back to that retailer. If only these catfish
remained small and manageable, but alas they do not.
These catfish are bred commercially in large ponds for the aquarium
trade, which begs the question why? Obviously there is a demand
or else this trade would not exist, how we control the importation
of these fish is another story! Who in their right mind would
want to keep a catfish that is capable of weighing in excess
of 44kg?
There is also an albino form of this catfish which is also offered
for sale. It is documented that this is a migratory species
of catfish moving upstream to spawn in May-July. This fish has
been introduced to other countries other than those documented
below which include Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.
Aquarium size would need to be as large as possible but as an
absolute minimum for a 450mm specimen I would suggest a 72”
x 24” x 24” aquarium, even though I do not advocate
the keeping of these catfish.
Published in Practical Fishkeeping January 2006.
The body is best described as being elongated. The position of
the mouth is described as being terminal. There are 6 branched
dorsal fin rays and the pelvic fins have 8-9 soft rays. The gill
rakers are described as being normally developed, with small gill
rakers being interspersed with larger ones.
The fins of this catfish are dark grey or black in colour. Juvenile
specimens are described as having a black stripe along the lateral
line with a second long black stripe below the lateral line. Adult
fish are described as being uniformly grey in colour. These catfish
have a dark stripe on the middle of the anal fin and a dark stripe
in each of the caudal lobes.
Whilst this catfish is fairly peaceful avoid keeping it with small
fish as they will eventually appear on the menu. It is best to
keep this catfish with other large fish avoiding those species
that are too boisterous.
| Sexual
differences |
It is documented that the males have darker
stripes and are more slender than the females.
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| Breeding |
There are no known records of aquarium spawnings of this catfish,
which is most likely due to the adult size of these fish and the
enormous size of aquarium required. To be honest it is quite a
relief that these fish have not been bred in aquarium conditions.
This catfish is best described as being an omnivore feeding on
a mixed and varied diet that includes catfish pellets, catfish
tablets, frozen bloodworm, floating food sticks and vegetable
matter to name but a few.
| Etymology |
Pangasius:
Derived from the vernucular name.
hypophthalmus: With an eye-spot
below, (under.)
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| Glossary
of Terms: |
Gill rakers
: Structure on the
upper portion of the gill arches.
Lateral Line: A sensory line, along the
sides of the body.
|
| Reference |
Planet Catfish - www.planetcatfish.com
ScotCat – www.scotcat.com
FishBase - www.fishbase.org
Catfish Association Great Britain Volume
1
Hans A Baensch and Dr Rudiger Riel, Baensch
Aquarium Atlas 2
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| Photo
Credits |
Top: Leigh Murphy
Bottom: Nishant Kakani
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| Synonyms:
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| Pangasius pangasius, Helicophagus hypophthalmus,
Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, Pangasius pleurotaenia, Pangasius
sutchi |
| Common
Name: |
| Iridescent Shark, Sutchi catfish or Pla Sawai |
| Family: |
| Pangasiidae |
| Subfamily: |
| |
| Distribution: |
| Southeast Asia : namely the
Mekong, Chao Phyra and perhaps Mekong basins; Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia and Viet Nam. It is documented that this catfish
has been introduced into additional river basins for the purposes
of aquaculture. |
| Size: |
| 1300mm or 52” SL (standard length is
the measurement from the tip of the snout to the base of the
caudal peduncle). |
| Temp: |
| The ideal temperature range is 22-26°C |
| pH.: |
| The ideal range is 6.5-7.5 |
| Hardness: |
| 2-29°dGH |
| Donation: |
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