Bony fish · Siluriformes · Bagridae

Giant River-catfish

Mystus seenghala

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A large catfish of the rivers of the Indian subcontinent, with an elongated body, a flattened head and four pairs of sensory barbels. It hunts fish, crustaceans and frogs at night, guided by smell and by the touch of its barbels in turbid water where sight is no use. It is an important food fish in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is also known as Sperata seenghala.

Size

60 cm – 1.5 m

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Fish Freshwater

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Fun facts

Its barbels are covered in taste buds: it literally tastes the water and the bottom to find food in complete darkness.
It is one of the most commercially valuable catfish in southern Asia, and its population has fallen because of dams that cut off its spawning migrations.
It is one of the largest catfish in the Indian subcontinent: it reaches a metre and a half.
It hunts at night guided by four pairs of barbels, which let it locate prey in murky water without seeing it.
It is an important freshwater fishery resource in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and is farmed in polyculture with the major carps.
Its pectoral and dorsal spines are strong and sharp, and it locks them erect in defence: that makes it hard for a predator to swallow and means it has to be handled with care.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (fish)
Habitat & environment: Large rivers, reservoirs and canals of the Ganges and Indus basins

Sources consulted: FishBase (Froese & Pauly, eds.); Lista Roja de la UICN; Talwar y Jhingran, Inland Fishes of India