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Description: Dorsal soft rays (total): 5 - 5; Anal soft rays: 77 - 97. Head broad, snout depressed. Body elongate, strongly compressed. Mouth very deeply cleft, its corner reaching far behind eyes. Teeth in jaws set in wide bands; vomerine teeth in two small patches. Barbels two pairs; maxillary barbels extending to anterior margin posterior of anal fin, mandibulary barbels to angle of mouth. Eyes small, with a free orbital margin. Dorsal fin small, anal fin very long. Mandibular barbel longer than pelvic fin; 24-30 gill rakers on the first arch. Eye in front of vertical through corner of mouth. Habitat: Found in large rivers, lakes and tanks. A large, voracious and predatory catfish which thrives in heels with grassy margins. Mostly hides under holes in river banks and canals. Associated with deep, still or slow-flowing water with a mud or silt substrate . Sluggish and stays on muddy or silty bottom in search of food. Juveniles feed mainly on insects; adults feed on smaller fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Destructive to other more valuable food-fishes. Bites strongly if handled, with its huge mouth, formidable jaws, and band of conical teeth. Threatened due to over harvesting. Reproduction: Oviparous, distinct pairing possibly like other members of the same family. Abundant during the warm season; a pre-monsoon summer breeder. In the Mekong, it is reported to migrate to smaller streams, canals and to the floodplain during the flood season. When the water level in the Mekong drops and the flood recedes, it moves to the Mekong or larger tributaries, where it stays in deep pools until the next inundation period. Aquarium Care: Only juveniles can be kept in aquaria and fed on tablet food, beef heart and similar foods. Adult fish are not deemed suitable for aquarium keeping due to the size, verocity and its feeding needs for living fish. Etymology: The specific name attu: From Attu-vahlay, Malayan name for this catfish in southern India.

Wallago, Freshwater Shark

Silurus attu, Wallagonia attu, Wallago attu valeya, Pinniwalago kanpurensis

Siluridae

Asia: Pakistan to Viet Nam and Indonesia. Reported from Afghanistan. Lower risk - near  threatened status  in Western Ghats, India.

200.0cm. (6ft 8ins)

22-25°C (71-77°F)

6.5-8.0.

Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl 1985 Aquarien atlas. Band 2. Mergus, Verlag für Natur- und Heimtierkunde GmbH, Melle, Germany. 1216 p.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (07/2010).
Ng, H.H., de Alwis Goonatilake, S., Fernado, M. & Kotagama, O. 2019. Wallago attu (errata version published in 2020). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019.
Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran, 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 2. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, i-xxii + 543-1158, 1 pl.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.