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,[2] and weighs over 200 pounds. 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.

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]


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