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Sperata seenghala (Sykes, 1839)

Giant river-catfish
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Image of Sperata seenghala (Giant river-catfish)
Sperata seenghala
Picture by Hasan, M.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Bagridae (Bagrid catfishes)
Etymology: Sperata: After Mr. M.A. Sperat.
Eponymy: Maria Adolfine Sperat was the late mother-in-law of author Maximilian Holly (q.v.) who had supported Holly’s studies with ‘great understanding’. (Also see Maria) (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 39°N - 8°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh (Ref. 4833). Reported from Thailand (Ref. 37773) and Yunnan, China (Ref. 84139).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4833); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4833)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 12. Body elongate and compressed; snout broad and spatulate. Barbels extend posteriorly to pelvic fins or beyond to anal fin. Dorsal spine weakly serrated on its posterior edge; adipose fin base short, about as long as the rayed dorsal fin base. Color is brownish-gray on back, silvery on flanks and belly. A dark well-defined spot is on the adipose dorsal fin.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in rivers, canals, beels, ditches, inundated fields and other freshwater areas. Adults fight well and provide good sport. Carnivore. Breeding occurs before the commencement of monsoons. Oviparous, distinct pairing possibly like other members of the same genus (Ref. 205).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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. (Ref. 4833)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 05 October 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: likely future use; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00776 (0.00644 - 0.00936), b=2.91 (2.86 - 2.96), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.1 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec = 20,064).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 82.3 [25.9, 180.8] mg/100g; Iron = 0.933 [0.496, 1.681] mg/100g; Protein = 16.8 [15.2, 18.4] %; Omega3 = 0.116 [0.056, 0.243] g/100g; Selenium = 84.6 [43.7, 171.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 12.4 [3.3, 41.2] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.333 [0.211, 0.550] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.