Bagarius yarrelli

Bagarius yarrelli
Bagarius yarrelli
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Sisoridae
Subfamily: Sisorinae
Genus: Bagarius
Species: B. yarrelli
Binomial name
Bagarius yarrelli
(Sykes, 1839)
Synonyms
  • Pimelodus yarrelli

Bagarius yarrelli, known as the giant devil catfish or goonch, is a very large species of catfish in the genus Bagarius found in rivers in South Asia.[2] It is possibly also found in Southeast Asia, but this may involve a separate species.[1]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in large rivers, including rivers with fast current, but never in small streams.[2] It is found in South Asia. There are also populations in Southeast Asia (as far south as Sumatra and Borneo), but this may involve a separate species.[1]

Description

This fish reaches up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in length, and weighs over 200 pounds.[2] It may be largest species in the genus. The related B. bagarius, another species where there is considerable taxonomic confusion, has – perhaps in error – been reported as reaching the same size as B. yarrelli,[3] while others consider B. bagarius to be a dwarf species that only reaches about 20 cm (7.9 in).[1]

In popular culture

The Kali River goonch attacks were a series of fatal attacks on humans claimed to be perpetrated by man-eating goonch catfish in three villages on the banks of the Kali River in Nepal and India , between 1998 and 2007. These incidents were shown on the Animal Planet show River Monsters, hosted by Jeremy Wade.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bagarius yarrelli.
  1. 1 2 3 4 Ng, H.H. (2010). "Bagarius bagarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Bagarius yarrelli" in FishBase. January 2012 version.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Bagarius bagarius" in FishBase. January 2012 version.

4. 'Giant Baghair caught in Jamuna' in The Daily Star (Bangladesh), May 12, 2009]

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.