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Silonia silondia (Hamilton, 1822)

Image contributors to this species:

Nonn Panitvong (2) Kamphol Udomrittiruj (2) Jian Ruilong (1) Andrew Rao (2) Abhisek Mishra (2)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Habitat: Inhabit rivers. Occur in shoals. Adults ascend from estuaries into large rivers for breeding during monsoons. After the water level recedes, they often get stranded in small pools. Reproduction: Oviparous, eggs are unguarded. Spawns in the rainy season and is said to migrate upstream to the area of the upper tributaries. Aquarium Care: These fish can grow big and have some gnarly teeth especially visible when they grow big. Again being an ailiid puts them in the sensitive zone which makes them very difficult to keep alive in home aquaria (Mishra, A). Diet: Large specimens have abundant curved teeth in their jaws and feed on fishes. Smaller specimens feed on invertebrates. Etymology: The genus name Silonia: etymology not explained, possibly latinisation of silon, local name for juveniles of this catfish in Bihar, India, or putative tautonymy with Pimelodus silondia but missing the “d”. The specific name silondia: latinisation of Silond, local name for this catfish in Bihar, India. Remarks: Silonia silondia is still listed in Fishbase as belonging to the Schilbeidae family but it is updated in The Catalog of Fishes as the current status of being a member of the Ailiidae family.

Common Name:

Silond catfish

Synonyms:

Ageniosus lurida, Pimelodus silondia, Silonia lurida, Silundia gangetica

Family:

Ailiidae

Distribution:

Asia: Northern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. Type locality: Gangetic estuaries.

Size:

160.0cm. SL (63ins)

Temp:

23-26°C (73-79°F)

p.H.

6.5-7.2.

Reference:

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.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2008. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (07/2008).
Mishra, A. pers comm. 2022.
Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran, 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 2. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.

Family: Ailiidae Back to Ident-A-Cat Click on Thumbnails

Silonia silondia
Juvenile-showing mouth structure

Silonia silondia
Juvenile

Silonia silondia
Adult showing curved teeth.

Silonia silondia

Silonia silondia
Head view showing gnarly teeth

Silonia silondia

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