Gilded catfish

The gilded catfish or jau (Zungaro zungaro) is a South American catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Pimelodidae. Also known as manguruyu or black manguruyu.[1]

Gilded catfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Pimelodidae
Genus: Zungaro
Species:
Z. zungaro
Binomial name
Zungaro zungaro
(Humboldt in Humboldt and Valenciennes, 1821)
Subspecies
  • Z. z. mangurus
    (Valenciennes, 1835)
  • Z. z. zungaro
    (Humboldt, 1821)
Synonyms
  • Pimelodus zungaro
    Humboldt, 1821
  • Bagrus flavicans
    Castelnau, 1855
  • Zungaro humboldtii
    Bleeker, 1858
  • Paulicea luetkeni
    (Steindachner, 1877)

Taxonomy

By some sources, it is the only species of the monotypic genus Zungaro.[2] However, some sources list other species as valid, such as Zungaro jahu.[3] This species may be referred to by one of its synonyms, Brachyplatystoma flavicans.[4] This species contains two subspecies, Z. z. mangurus and Z. z. zungaro.[5]

Distribution and habitat

They are sexually mature upon reaching 10 kg (22 lb) weight.[4] This fish native to the Orinoco and Amazon basins; in the Amazon, this fish is found quite upstream, in the main bed of the big tributaries with muddy bottoms.[4]

Description

This fish reaches 140 cm (55 in) in total length, and specimens measuring 130 cm (51 in) and weighing 50 kg (110 lb) are not rare.[4] These fish are mainly piscivorous, hunt at night, and sometimes go into flood-prone areas of rivers. Some migrations in pursuit of migrating Triportheus and Anodus have been reported. The nursery ground is at the mouths of rivers.[4]

References
  1. "Common names of Zungaro zungaro". fishbase.se.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). Species of Zungaro in FishBase. May 2007 version.
  3. Ferraris, Carl J., Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Zungaro zungaro" in FishBase. February 2012 version.
  5. "Zungaro zungaro". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
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