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Description: Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal soft rays: 12 - 13; Vertebrae: 46. Distinguished from its congeners by a unique combination of the following characters: head length 28.1-29.6% SL, head depth 11.9-14.3% SL, depth of the caudal peduncle 8.8-9.9% SL, eye diameter 13.8-15% HL. Aquarium Care: As with most of the genus, H. punctatus can become a pretty nasty character in your fish tanks and if housed with other fish can be lethal. Cichlids such as the Pikes from the Crenichla genus that can look after themselves would be the best bet for other tankmates. If kept with other fish they will have to be able to look after themselves. Diet: Whilst this catfish is best described as a predator/carnivore in its natural habitat feedings of fish, insects, shrimps and other crustaceans, in captivity this catfish will feed on mussels, prawns, pieces of fish, earthworms and will even take prepared foods such as catfish pellets. Etymology: The genus name Hemibagrus: Hemi- half; bagrus- from 'bagre', a South American name for a catfish, but is only used for African and Asian species. The specific name punctatus: from the Latin punctatus = 'spotted'. Remarks: Hemibagrus punctatus was known from three locations from which the species has not been recorded since late 1990s. Subsequent and recent surveys in the rivers have not recorded this species thereby suggesting a drastic decline of close to 100% due to habitat loss and other threats that are not yet clearly understood. The species' identity may need further scrutiny in some locations it has been reported from, and in addition the confirmed locations need to be surveyed thoroughly before its status can be assessed as extinct. It is therefore presently assessed as Critically Endangered (possibly extinct), (Raghavan, R. & Ali, A. 2011).

Nilgiri mystus

Bagrus punctatus, Macrones punctatus, Mystus punctatus

Bagridae

Asia: Cauvery River basin to Bhavani River in Tamil Nada; also rivers in Mysore, Western Ghats and adjoining hills, peninsular India. Type locality: Cavery and its principal tributaries, southern India.

40.0cm. (16ins)

22-28°C (71-83°F)

6.5-7.2.

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. 2011. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version.
Raghavan, R. & Ali, A. 2011. Hemibagrus punctatus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species