大鳍鳠

Overview

Hemibagrus macropterus is a Chinese river catfish with an elongated adipose-fin base and a dark brown body bearing relatively few small black spots. It preys on invertebrates and smaller fishes and is rarely encountered as an ornamental species.

Distribution & habitat

Records come from the Pearl, Yangtze, and Qiantang river systems of central and southern China. It occupies fast-moving rivers and tributaries over rocky bottoms. Dam building and pollution have affected parts of the range, with local disappearance possible at some sites.

Diet & feeding

This is a predator whose natural food is primarily invertebrates and small fishes. Captive feeding need not involve live fish or other living foods; a list of wild prey should not be interpreted as a requirement to supply living vertebrates.

Breeding

Wild reproduction occurs in June and July. A single spawning may produce as many as about two thousand eggs, and larvae complete early development in roughly twenty days. Aquarium breeding remains unrecorded, so these observations do not amount to an established captive protocol.

Notes

The long adipose fin partly joins the principal tail-fin rays. Together with the brown coloration and sparse small spots, this helps describe its appearance. Close relatives require more detailed morphological comparison, and a broad common label such as river catfish is insufficient for dependable identification.