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Freshwater Fishes of China in Coloured Illustrations (1) Zhou Hang (2) Karl-Heinz Dau (1 Stamp) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (3)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal soft rays: 19 - 20. Habitat: Occurs mainly in river channels and lakes. Colouration: Has an unique colour pattern of brown to dark brown mid-lateral and mid-dorsal stripes on yellow background. Reproduction: Oviparous. Eggs are guarded by the males. Aquarium Care: Primarily a cool water catfish so placing the tank in a centrally heated house would suffice. Needs a large tank as they grow fast and they will squabble with con specifics if kept in too small a tank. Create hiding places with rocks and bogwood with the tank densely planted and with floating plants as part of the setup. Diet: Feeds on the bottom on insects (particularly on trichopterans and chironomids), mollusks, occasionally on fishes. In the aquarium it will accept most prepared foods such as flake, tablets, live and frozen. Etymology: The genus name of Tachysurus: tachys, swift; oura, tail, referring to the presumed agility of T. sinensis based on its “long and nimble” tail (translation). The specific name of fulvidraco: fulva; means tawny, draco; means dragon. Remarks: At the moment (2024) in Eshmeyers Catalog of Fishes, the current status of T. fulvidraco is that it is a synonym of Tachysurus sinensis Lacepède 1803.

Tawny Dragon catfish

Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, Pseudobagrus fulvidraco, Pimelodus fulvidraco, Macrones fulvidraco, Silurus calvarius Basilewsky, 1855, Bagrus calvarius (Basilewsky, 1855)

Bagridae

Asia: Widely throughout China, except the western plateau and Xinjiang (Chu et al., 1999); Nam Ma Basin, Laos, and northern and central Vietnam and the Amur river basin in the far east of Russia. Type locality: Canton, China.

32.0cm (14ins)

16-25°C (59-77°F)

6.0-7.0.

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Burgess, W.E. 1989 An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes. A preliminary survey of the Siluriformes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey (USA). 784 p.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Serov, D.V., Nezdoliy V.K., Pavlov, D.S.; The Freshwater Fishes of Central Vietnam. Scientific Press Ltd. 363 p.