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Hypophthalmus edentatus Spix & Agassiz, 1829

Image contributors to this species:

Mark Henry Sabaj (2) Edinaldo Silva Ferreira (1) MNHN (1)

ScotCat Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

Description: Has no teeth in its jaws but possesses many long gill rakers that are used as a sieve for feeding on planktonic crustaceans like cladocerans, copepods and ostracods. Also feeds on debris, and other plankton. Appears to follow the plankton's vertical movements during the day. Habitat: Pelagic species which lives in schools near the surface of the water. Found over soft muddy bottoms. Juveniles inhabit the lower part of streams in estuaries, and adults are found more upstream. Reproduction: Ovaries start to develop in November when the water level rises. Fractional spawning occurs between February and April. The female lays down 50,000 to 100,000 eggs according to its weight. Remarks: Because they are a filter feeder they are not really suitable for the home aquarium (Grant, Steven 2021).

Common Name:

Highwaterman catfish

Synonyms:

Hypophthalmus spixii

Family:

Pimelodidae

Distribution:

South America: Amazon and Orinoco River basins and Atlantic coastal rivers of Guyana and Suriname. Reported from the Paraná River. Type locality: influviis Brasiliae equitorialis.

Size:

45.0cm T.L. (18ins)

Temp:

22-26°C (71-79°F)

p.H.

6.0-7.5.

Reference:

Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez, 1992. Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD
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. 2015. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 01/2020 ).
Grant, Steven. Pims. Pimelodidae, Heptapteridae and Pseudopimelodidae Catfishes. ATS-Aquashop.de 2021 219p.
Hypophthalmus edentatus Spix & Agassiz, 1829 Collected in Unknown country. GBIF 2021 (licensed under creativecommoms.org).

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

Hypophthalmus edentatus
Rio Tocantins

Hypophthalmus edentatus
Head view-Rio Tocantins

Hypophthalmus edentatus
Juruti, Para

Hypophthalmus edentatus
Preserved specimen

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