Pinirampus pirinampu

Pinirampus pirinampu

The walleye catfish ( Pinirampus pirinampu ), Eng. Flatwhiskered Catfish, one of the catfish species of tropical South America. He is called in Brazil Barbado and in Spanish-speaking countries bagre, Barba Chata or Mota.

Occurrence

The walleye catfish lives in large rivers such as the Amazon River in Peru and Brazil, the Orinoco in Colombia and Venezuela, the Essequibo in Guyana to further south in the Rio Paraná in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Morphology

The catfish is distinguished by its long antenna-like barbels from, the body is usually silvery- gray or brown in color and may have slightly dark spots. The fins are often lined with red.

Way of life

Pinirampus pirinampu can with ideal living conditions reach a length of 75 centimeters and a weight up to 5 kg, making it one of the medium sized catfish species of South America. In exceptional cases, it may reach a length of 1.20 meters. Guarantees is a copy of 11.40 kilograms, which was caught in 2007 in the Rio Paraguay. Sexual maturity is reached at a length of about 60 centimeters. The Barbado occurs in small schools and studied at ground level for small mammals and fish. Although their prey spectrum is relatively large, they prefer doing smaller catfish as Iheringichthys labrosus and piranhas that inhabit the same habitat. For example, part of the Zungarowels to their natural enemies. Zander - whiskered catfish come in waters with temperatures of 24 - before 29 ° C and a pH of 5-9. They are migratory fish and move in flocks during the dry season in the main stream of the rivers towards the upper reaches, where they spawn at the beginning of the rainy season. The hatched fry can then with the flow again carry downstream and colonize floodplains, where they hide from predators in aquatic plants. In a reservoir of Paranapanema river in southern Brazil showed that the catfish go to certain stretches of water in the course of the year depending on Wasserklarsichtigkeit, temperature and dissolved oxygen content.

Benefit

In the Brazilian states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and Roraima play zander catfish than farmed fish with very savory meat a major role. To prevent overfishing, the minimum was set at 60 inches. The river system of the Rio Paraná such as Jupiá the reservoir and the Água Vermelha reservoir - caught catfish with long lines and throw nets. Anglers will appreciate the catfish because of their enduring power.