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Clarias macrocephalus Günther, 1864

Bighead catfish
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Clariidae (Airbreathing catfishes)
Etymology: Clarias: Greek, chlaros = lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.
More on author: Günther.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 1 - ? m (Ref. 9987). Tropical; 34°N - 4°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia: Thailand to Viet Nam. Introduced to China, Malaysia, Guam and the Philippines.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 19 - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9987); max. published weight: 45.0 kg (Ref. 9987)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0. Distinguished from Southeast Asian congeners by an extremely short and rounded occipital process and by a very high dorsal fin. The combination of these characters are diagnostic for the species (Ref. 33566). Occipital process wide, broadly curved, with length 3-5 times in its width; distance between dorsal and occipital process 5-7 times in distance from tip of snout to end of occipital process (Ref. 43281).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Facultative air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Lives in lowland wetlands and rivers (Ref. 57235). Recorded as having been or being farmed in rice fields (Ref. 119549). Occurs in shallow, open water and is capable of lying buried in mud for lengthy period if ponds and lakes evaporate during dry seasons (Ref. 9987). Can move out of the water using its extended fins (Ref. 9987). Found in medium to large-sized rivers, stagnant water bodies including sluggish flowing canals and flooded fields of the Mekong (Ref. 12975). Spawns in small streams (Ref. 9987). Feeds on aquatic insects, young shrimps and small fishes (Ref. 6459). In Thailand, it was thought wrongly as female of Clarias batrachus (Ref 2686). Important foodfish and in pond cultures (Ref. 57235). Marketed live, fresh and frozen; consumed fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9987). Cultivated on a small scale but attempts to farm it are increasing (Ref. 9987).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Eggs are attached to the roots of plants. Male takes charge of these eggs until they are hatched out.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Teugels, G.G., R.C. Diego, L. Pouyaud and M. Legendre, 1999. Redescription of Clarias macrocephalus (Siluriformes: Clariidae) from South-East Asia. Cybium 23(3):285-295. (Ref. 33566)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 17 January 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00434 - 0.01593), b=2.98 (2.82 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.58 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Assuming tm=1; Fec=800-14,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 16.9 [7.6, 71.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.76 [0.42, 1.38] mg/100g; Protein = 16.4 [15.4, 17.5] %; Omega3 = 0.114 [0.052, 0.270] g/100g; Selenium = 111 [45, 288] μg/100g; VitaminA = 16.1 [5.4, 48.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.565 [0.400, 0.811] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.