Brachyplatystoma platynemum (Slobbering Catfish ... | 水產百科網

ThisspecieswasreferredtothegenusGosliniaforanumberofyears,butiscurrentlyincludedinBrachyplatystomabasedonapairofsynapomorphiessharedby ...

Order: Siluriformes Family: Pimelodidae[1][2]

Type locality is ‘Pará, Brazil’ but this species is widely-distributed throughout much of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, including many tributary drainages.

Found in a number of habitat-types, though rarely in smaller tributaries, generally preferring deeper, flowing channels through which it travels for considerable distances at certain times of year. Like other large, migratory pimelodids these movements are typically associated with nutrient-rich, white water drainages rather than nutrient-poor black waters.

When the Amazon begins to rise at the start of the wet season, freshwater is pushed into its delta and the normally brackish waters recede, allowing juveniles and sexually-immature adults of several migratory catfish species, including B. platynemum, to enter the area and feed on polychaetes, bivalves, crustaceans, and other fishes.

This rich feeding ground is exploi...