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Julien Renoult (1) Allan Lugg (1)

Tandanus tropicanus or the Wet Tropics Tandan is a species of eeltail catfish native to Australia. It was discovered in rivers between Townsville and Cairns by a group of scientists from James Cook University. Description: Dorsal soft rays (total): 5-6; Anal soft rays: 150 - 165. Tandanus tropicanus is distinguished from its congener T. tandanus from different drainages. In the Murray-Darling drainage, it differs from T. tandanus by having the following characters: 150-165, mode 156 rays in the continuous caudodorsal and anal fins (vs. 136-149, mode 143); 31-35, mode 31, gill rakers on the first arch (vs. 24-30, mode 28); interorbital width 32.9-38.4% of HL mean 36.2% (vs. 40.3-47.7%, mean 43.5%); pectoral spine 11.1-14.0% of SL, mean 12.4% (vs. 8.9-11.2%, mean 10.1%). For individuals >20.5 cm SL, T. tropicanus can be diagnosed from T. tandanus of the Murray-Darling drainage by having 12-19 (mode 14) posterior serrae on the pectoral-fin spine (vs. 7-11, mode 9). Also, individuals >7.0 cm HL, T. tropicanus differs from T. tandanus of the Murray-Darling drainage by having the following characters: length of the inner mandibular barbel 32.3-41.0% of HL, mean 36.1% (vs. 40.9-54.7%, mean 46.7%); distance between bases of outer mandibular barbels 27.4-33.8% of HL, mean 29.6% (vs. 21.2-25.9%, mean 24.4%); distance between bases of inner mandibular barbels 13.5-15.9% of HL, mean 14.8% (vs. 10.4-13.2%, mean 12.0%); distance between bases of maxillary barbels 47.0-53.5% of HL, mean 50.1% (vs. 39.5-46.6%, mean 44.2% ); maximum cleithral width 75.6-81.4% of HL, mean 78.2% (vs. 68.6-75.2%, mean 71.9%); and eye diameter 14.7-17.2% of HL, mean 15.6% (vs. 12.3-14.6%, mean 13.6%). In the eastern coastal drainages of Australia (Burnett, Tweed, Brisbane, Fitzroy, Clarence, Mary, and Richmond). Tandanus tropicanus differs from T. tandanus by having the following features: 150-165 rays (mode 156) in the continuous caudodorsal and anal fins (vs. 132-147, mode 145); gill rakers on the first arch 31-35, mode 31 (vs. 27-30, mode 28); interorbital width 32.9-38.4% of HL, mean 36.2% (vs. 40.2-47.3%, mean 43.2%); and to a lesser degree, a longer pectoral spine (11.1-14.0% of SL, mean 12.4% vs. 10.0-11.1%, mean 10.5%, respectively). For individuals >20.5 cm SL, T. tropicanus differs from T. tandanus by having more posterior serrae on the pectoral-fin spine (range 12-19, mode 14 vs. 7-11, mode 10). Habitat: Found in coastal rivers and streams of the wet tropics region, Queensland, Australia from the Daintree River to Five Mile Creek.

Wet Tropics Tandan

None

Plotosidae

Oceania: Australia from coastal rivers within the wet tropics region of northeast Queensland, including the Daintree, Mulgrave-Russell, Johnstone, Tully, and Five Mile drainage basins.

40.0cm. (16ins)

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Bray, D.J. 2020, Tandanus tropicanus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 08 Nov 2020. fishesofaustralia.net.au.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
Welsh, S.A., D.R. Jerry and D.W. Burrows, 2014. A new species of freshwater eel-tailed catfish of the genus Tandanus (Teleostei: Plotosidae) from the wet tropics region of Eastern Australia. Copeia 2014(1):136-142.