Description:
Dorsal spines (total): 1. The head is rounded and
flattened on the upper part. The mouth is slightly
inferior. It has 3 pairs of barbels (1 pair of maxillary
barbels and 2 pairs of mandibular barbels. The cephalic
surface is very rough. Habitat:
brackish, marine.
Confined chiefly to turbid
waters in estuaries and the lower parts of rivers.
Two annual cycles of slower growth are known during
the two dry seasons (March and August to November).
Probably has a short life span. Reproduction:
In the beginning of reproduction, the male's mouth
changes to function as a egg repository (buccal incubation).
The female lays down her eggs in a sandy depression,
then after fertilization, the male puts the eggs into
its mouth which is provided with ventilation until
hatching. Eggs diameter is about 2 mm and its number
varies from 100 to 165 per female. Aquarium
Care: Grows too large for the home aquarium.
Diet: Feeds mainly on crustaceans.
Remarks:
Its delicate flesh is
highly valued.
South
America: Atlantic
draining rivers of South America, from the Gulf of
Paria to the mouth of the Amazon. Type locality:
Surinam, probably neighbourhood of Paramaribo.
Size:
97.0cm. TL (39ins)
Temp:
22-26°c
(71-79°f)
p.H.
7.0-8.0.
Reference:
Cervigón, F.,
R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx,
A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina
and B. Rodriguez,
1992. Fichas FAO de identificación de especies
para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de
las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres
de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO,
Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la
Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
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. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic
publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 01/2019 ).
Le Bail, P.-Y., P. Keith
and P. Planquette, 2000. Atlas des poissons
d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 2, Fascicule II: Siluriformes.
Collection Patrimoines Naturels 43(II): 307p. Paris:
Publications scientifiques du Muséum national
d'Histoire naturelle.
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