Giant River Catfish

The 150 cm giant river-catfish (Sperata seenghala) is one of several native high trophic level demersal (organisms living on or near the bottom) fish species present in the Indus River and its tributaries. Major tributaries of the Indus rise in the Himalayan Mountains and the Hindu Kush; these influent rivers include the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej. The Indus mainstem rises on the Tibetan Plateau and flows generally westward. The Green Revolution has exacerbated water pollution by considerable additions of nitrate to promote crop growth. Other aggravating factors have included increasing amounts of herbicides and pesticides, as pressures to increase crop production expand. Flow of the perennial Indus is dominated by: (a) meltwaters from the Tibetan icefield, the third largest ice sheet formation in the world; (b) snowfall and snowmelt from higher elevation of the watershed; and (c) episodic monsoonal rains that lead to periodic flooding in the basin. Other large demersal fish associates in the Indus Basin are the 244 centimeter (cm) giant devil catfish (Bagarius yarrelli), the 180 cm Long-whiskered catfish (Sperata aor), the mottled loach (Acanthocobitis botia), silond catfish (Silonia silondia) and the 150 cm near threatened clown knifefish (Chitala chitala).