Teleostei (teleosts) >
Siluriformes (Catfishes) >
Pangasiidae (Shark catfishes)
Etymology: Pangasius: The Vietnamese name of a fish (Ref. 45335); kunyit: Kunyit is from the Javanese word for saffron referring to its goldfish color..
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic. Tropical
Asia: major drainages from Sumatra, Indonesia (Musi, Batang Hari and Indragiri rivers); also present in eastern Kalimantan (Mahakam, Kapuas and Barito rivers), Sabah, Malaysia (Kinabatanagan River) and Viet Nam (Mekong delta).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.2 cm SL (female)
Dorsal spines (total): 2; Anal soft rays: 30 - 33. Distinguished from all other Pangasius species by the combination of the following characters: a somewhat spatulated (broad and rounded) head (snout length 40.0-53.4% HL; head depth 48.0-54.7% HL; head width 70.7-76.6% HL); short palatine tooth plates (10.0-12.8% HL); a very robust dorsal spine (width of spine 9.25-11.2 times in its length).
Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Inhabits deeper waters. Occurs sympatrically with P. krempfi in the Mekong delta. It is considered as a candidate species for aquaculture and its reproduction in captivity has already been achieved in the Mekong delta, Viet Nam (Ref. 33567).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Pouyaud, L., G.G. Teugels and M. Legendre, 1999. Description of a new pangasiid catfish from south-east Asia (Siluriformes). Cybium 23(3):247-258. (Ref. 33567)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: likely future use
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00217 - 0.00962), b=3.09 (2.90 - 3.28), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.8 ±0.38 se; based on food items.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (54 of 100).