Gilded catfish
Zungaro zungaro
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The gilded catfish is one of the largest South American catfishes, from the Amazon and Orinoco basins: specimens of 130 centimetres and 50 kilograms are not rare. It lives in the main channels of large rivers with muddy bottoms. It eats mainly fish and hunts at night. Juveniles are spotted; adults become uniformly coloured.
- Scientific name
- Zungaro zungaro
- Family
- Pimelodidae
Fact sheet
General
- Water
- Freshwater
- Group
- Fish
Taxonomy
- Family
- Pimelodidae
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Synonyms
- Bagrus flavicans, Brachyplatystoma flavicans, Paulicea jahu, Paulicea luetkeni, Paulicea lutkeni, Pimelodus zungaro, Platystoma luetkeni, Platystoma lütkeni, Pseudopimelodus bufonius, Pseudopimelodus humbdolti, Pseudopimelodus zungaro, Pseudopimelodus zungaro bufonius, Pseudopimelodus zungaro zungaro, Zungaro humboldtii, Zungaro luetkeni
Origin
- Native region
- América do Sul
Water
- Temperature
- 20–24 °C
- pH
- 6.5–7.2
Size and lifespan
- Adult size
- 140 cm
Behavior
- Swimming level
- Bottom
- Diet
- Carnivore
Conservation and trade
- IUCN status
- Least concern (LC)
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