Crocodile Catfish

Rugose dorsal surface of bony cranium and predorsal plate exposed (not covered by skin); a median sharp ridge on supraoccipital crest and paired sharp longitudinal ridges on predorsal |plate; skin on sides of head and on body with closely set beadlike or granular protuberances (resembling those of gecko skin) of similar size; body depth 7.9-9.3 (mean 8.5); a darkly pigmented spot or blotch on side of body midway between darkly pigmented bands associated with bases of dorsal and adipose fins. The skin above the neural spines anterior and posterior to the adipose fin always forms large ridges or humps (seven to nine in front of the adipose fin, three to five behind it), much more prominent and more numerous than the relatively weak humps or ridges sometimes formed over the neural spines in B. bagarius and rarely present and even more weakly developed in B. yarrelli. In B. suchus the adipose fin origin tends to lie even further posterior than in B. bagarius (and therefore much further posteriorly than in B. yarrelli), and the distance separating the dorsal and adipose fins is much greater in B. suchus than in B. bagarius or B. yarrelli.

Potamodromous. Migrating within streams, migratory in rivers, e.g. Saliminus, Moxostoma, Labeo. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Vertebrae: 40 - 42

Inhabit large rivers (Ref. 12693). Usually associated with rapids (Ref. 43281). Feed on fishes. Sold fresh, although the value of its meat is limited because it spoils rapidly and can cause illness (Ref. 12693).

fisheries: minor commercial

The crocodile catfish (Bagarius suchus) is a species of sisorid catfish native to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, where it occurs in the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins. This species reaches a maximum length of 70 centimetres (28 in) SL.