Chaca (genus)

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Chaca
Chaca lophioides Mintern 112.jpg
Chaca chaca
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Superfamily: Siluroidea
Family: Chacidae
Bleeker, 1858
Genus: Chaca
J. E. Gray, 1831
Type species
Platystacus chaca
Hamilton, 1822

Chaca is the only genus in the catfish family Chacidae. These fish are commonly known as squarehead catfishes, frogmouth catfishes, or angler catfishes. [1] These unusual fish have a sedentary lifestyle and spend much of their time motionless.

A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, as well as viruses, in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

Catfish order of fishes

Catfish are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia, the wels catfish of Eurasia and the piraíba of South America, to detritivores, and even to a tiny parasitic species commonly called the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa. There are armour-plated types and there are also naked types, neither having scales. Despite their name, not all catfish have prominent barbels. Members of the Siluriformes order are defined by features of the skull and swimbladder. Catfish are of considerable commercial importance; many of the larger species are farmed or fished for food. Many of the smaller species, particularly the genus Corydoras, are important in the aquarium hobby. Many catfish are nocturnal, but others are crepuscular or diurnal.

Contents

The name Chaca is because, when removed from the water, they will rapidly repeat the sound "chaca". [2] Only C. chaca makes these sounds; the other species do not. [3]

Species

The four currently recognized species in this genus are: [4] [5]

<i>Chaca bankanensis</i> species of fish

Chaca bankanensis is a species of angler catfish found in the Sundaland region, where it occurs in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It is found in peat swamps and streams. This species grows to a length of 20.0 cm (7.9 in). It is found in the aquarium trade.

Pieter Bleeker Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist and herpetologist (1819-1878)

Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises, his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia published between 1862 and 1877.

Chaca burmensis is a species of angler catfish endemic to Myanmar, where it is found in the Sittang River and possibly the Ayeyarwady drainage. This species grows to a length of 20.0 cm.

Distribution and habitat

Chaca species are found in fresh water from eastern India to Borneo.

Fresh water naturally occurring water with low concentrations of dissolved salts

Fresh water is any naturally occurring water except seawater and brackish water. Fresh water includes water in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and even underground water called groundwater. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Though the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs.

India Country in South Asia

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Borneo island

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.

C. chaca is found in rivers, canals, and ponds of grassland, scrubland, deciduous forest, and rainforest habitats. [2] [6] On the other hand, C. bankanensis is only found in the rainforest, where it inhabits peat. [2] [7]

Appearance and anatomy

Chaca catfish have elongated, broad, and flattened heads. The mouths are terminal and very wide. [2] Three or four pairs of barbels are found, though if the nasal barbels are present, they are minute. [8] These fish grow to a length of about 20 cm (7.9 in). [4]

The dorsal fin is short and possesses strong, serrated, fin spines, which are strong enough to inflict wounds. [2]

Ecology

These fish live in soft substrates where they bury themselves as camouflage, both for protection and to feed. [6] These fish are ambush predators. They feed on prey such as small fish, including cyprinids and pupfishes. [2] They lie in wait, well camouflaged, in preparation for prey to swim by. Sometimes, they use their maxillary barbels (attached to the upper jaw) to lure prey fish closer to their mouths, similar to a worm jerking in the water, [2] although this behavior is contested by some aquarists, who do not observe this behavior. [3] When the catfish is ready to strike, the Chaca will open its large mouth rapidly, creating a vacuum that pulls in water and its prey, which may be up to half the fish's own length. [2] These fish are also able to use this large mouths as a means of propulsion; when frightened, they will gulp a large amount of water and expel it through their gills. [3]

In the aquarium

Chaca species are occasionally available as aquarium fish. They are nocturnal and are usually inactive. [9] A bizarre phenomenon is shown in that Chaca species appear to lower the pH of the water, so maintenance of water chemistry is necessary. [3] These fish have been bred in captivity. [3]

Related Research Articles

Kryptopterus bicirrhis, often called the glass catfish, is an Asian glass catfish species of the genus Kryptopterus. Until 1989, the concept of K. bicirrhis included its smaller relative Kryptopterus vitreolus. Its scientific name K. bicirrhis and common name glass catfish are often still used in the aquarium fish trade to refer to the actual K. vitreolus; as it seems, the larger and more aggressive true K. bicirrhis was only ever exported in insignificant numbers.

Eeltail catfish family of fishes

The eeltail catfish are a family (Plotosidae) of catfish whose tails are elongated in an eel-like fashion. These catfishes are native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific from Japan to Australia and Fiji. The family includes about 41 species in 10 genera. About half of the species are freshwater, occurring in Australia and New Guinea.

<i>Clarias</i> genus of fishes

Clarias is a genus of catfishes of the family Clariidae, the airbreathing catfishes. The name is derived from the Greek chlaros, which means lively, in reference to the ability of the fish to live for a long time out of water.

Stream catfish family of fishes

The stream catfishes comprise the family Akysidae of catfishes.

Akysis is the largest genus of catfishes of the family Akysidae.

Akysis longifilis is a species of catfish belonging to the family Akysidae, the stream catfishes. It is only known to inhabit the Sittang River basin in southern Myanmar.

<i>Kryptopterus</i> genus of fishes

Kryptopterus is a genus of catfishes belonging to the family Siluridae. They are found in freshwater throughout Southeast Asia. The scientific name comes from Ancient Greek kryptós + ptéryx. It refers to the reduced or even entirely absent dorsal fin of these catfishes.

<i>Brachyplatystoma</i> genus of fishes

Brachyplatystoma is a genus of catfish from the family Pimelodidae. As the occasionally used common name goliath catfishes indicates, this genus includes some of the largest species of catfish, including the piraíba, B. filamentosum, which reaches up to the region of 3.6 metres (12 ft) in length. Brachyplatystoma are found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and other tropical freshwater and brackish habitats in South America. Some species are migratory. These fish are important as food fish and, to some extent, aquarium fish.

<i>Hyalobagrus</i> genus of fishes

Hyalobagrus is a genus of bagrid catfishes found in Southeast Asia.

<i>Leiarius</i> genus of fishes

Leiarius is a genus of long-whiskered catfishes native to South America. Most of the genus' species are found in the aquarium hobby as ornamental fish.

<i>Pseudobagrus</i> genus of fishes

Pseudobagrus is a genus of bagrid catfishes that inhabit streams and rivers throughout East Asia. About half of these species occur in China.

<i>Helicophagus</i> genus of fishes

Helicophagus is a genus of shark catfishes native to Southeast Asia.

<i>Gogangra</i> genus of fishes

Gogangra is a genus of sisorid catfishes native to Asia.

Parakysis is a genus of catfishes of the family Akysidae. It includes six species.

Pseudobagarius is a genus of catfishes of the family Akysidae.

<i>Plotosus</i> genus of fishes

Plotosus is a genus of eeltail catfishes native to the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean and New Guinea.

Bayad species of fish

The bayad, is a species of bagrid catfish from Africa.

Ceratoglanis is a genus of sheatfishes native to Asia.

<i>Chaca chaca</i> species of fish

Chaca chaca is a species of angler catfish found in the Ganges-Brahmaputra River system of India and the Ayeyarwady River of Myanmar, where it is found in rivers, canals and ponds of grassland, scrubland, deciduous forest and rainforest habitats. These species grow to a length of 20.0 cm. This fish is found in the aquarium trade. In Assam, it is locally known as kurkuri.

References

  1. ↑ "Chacidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved May 8, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Roberts, Tyson R. (1982). "A Revision of the South and Southeast Asian Angler-Catfishes (Chacidae)". Copeia . American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. 1982 (4): 895–901. doi:10.2307/1444100. JSTOR   1444100.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Catfish of the Month::March 2001". 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  4. 1 2 Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). Species of Chaca in FishBase . December 2011 version.
  5. 1 2 Ng, H.H. & Kottelat, M. (2012): Chaca serica, a new species of frogmouth catfish (Teleostei: Siluriformes) from southern Borneo. Zootaxa, 3258: 37–45.
  6. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Chaca chaca" in FishBase . May 2007 version.
  7. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Chaca bankanensis" in FishBase . May 2007 version.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World . John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN   0-471-25031-7.
  9. ↑ Axelrod, Herbert R. (1996). Exotic Tropical Fishes. T.F.H. Publications. ISBN   0-87666-543-1.
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