| Family: |
Pimelodidae (Long-whiskered catfishes) |
| Max. size: |
58.1 cm SL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 33 kg |
| Environment: |
benthopelagic; freshwater; depth range 5 - 10 m |
| Distribution: |
South America: Amazon River from Belém, Brazil upriver to at least Iquitos, Peru, and several large tributary rivers and lakes including Trombetas, Madeira, Negro, Manacapuru, Purus, Tefé, Juruá, Jutaí, and Içá. |
| Diagnosis: |
This species is distinguished by the following characters of which the first three are unique among the Pimelodidae and the last is unique among the Brachyplatystomatini: jaw teeth dimorphic with mostly fine, densely spaced outer teeth and relatively few (3-6) inner rows of slender, straight, inwardly depressible teeth; juveniles (< 200 mm SL, but some as large as 300 mm SL) marked by bold, large (twice or more times eye diameter) dark brown or gray spots centered above lateral line; ground color in preservative tan to medium brown; adults and juveniles (> ca. 200 mm SL) black to very dark gray or brown dorsally and abruptly countershaded along a horizontal from snout tip to caudal-fin base, especially along posterior half of body just above or at lateral line; ventrally it is plain white to dusky cream; most specimens with light patch anterior to upper lobe of caudal fin; caudal fin of adults is moderately to shallowly forked, lobes broad and nearly equal (Ref. 55106). |
| Biology: |
Collected below 200 m asl in the Amazon mainstream and largest white and black water triburtaries; trawled 10s to 100s m off shore, on mud and sand substrates (Ref. 55106). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 14 December 2020 (A2bd) Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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