Kryptopterus palembangensis (BLEEKER, 1852)

SynonymsTop ↑

Silurus palembangensis Bleeker, 1852

Etymology

Kryptopterus: from the Greek kryptos, meaning ‘hidden’, and pterýgio, meaning ‘fin’, in reference to the reduced or absent dorsal-fin in members of this genus.

palembangensis: ‘of Palembang’, in reference to the type locality of this species.

Classification

Order: Siluriformes Family: Siluridae

Distribution

Type locality is given as ‘Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia’, and this species appears to be known only from central and southern Sumatra in the provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan).

Maximum Standard Length

100 – 140 mm.

Aquarium SizeTop ↑

An aquarium with base dimensions of 120 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent should be the smallest considered.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 20 – 28 °C

pH: 6.0 – 7.5

Hardness: 36 – 268 ppm

Diet

Probably a predator feeding on crustaceans, invertebrates and smaller fishes in nature, although there should be no need to use such live foods in captivity.

Offer a varied diet comprising sinking dried foods, live and frozen bloodworm, Tubifex, etc., and perhaps the occasional small earthworm.

NotesTop ↑

This species is almost unheard of in the aquarium trade though may occasionally be exported among shipments of wild fishes from Sumatra.

It’s closely-related to K. bichirris but is told apart by presence (vs. absence) of a prominent, dark lateral stripe on each flank.

Kryptopterus species are found only in Southeast Asia and the genus has been considered polyphyletic since Bornbusch (1995) with some former species already moved to the genera Phalacronotus and Micronema.

Those still contained within the genus are assigned to a number of putative species groups as follows:

K. bicirrhis group: K. bicirrhis, K. lais, K. palembangensis, K. macrocephalus, K. minor, K. piperatus, K. vitreolus
K. cryptopterus group: K. cryptopterus, K. geminus
K. limpok group: K. limpok, K. mononema, K. dissitus, K. baramensis, K. hesperius
K. schilbeides group: K. schilbeides, K. paraschilbeides

Bombusch (1995) identified the K. bicirrhis group as a distinct clade although he didn’t propose any synapomorphy to diagnose it.

Ng and Kottelat (2013) later noted that members normally have fewer anal-fin rays (46–67 vs. 64–85) than other congeners and placed K. piperatus and K. vitreolus within the group based on this character.

References

1. Bleeker, P., 1852 - Tiental I - IV. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië v. 3: 569-608
   Diagnostische beschrijvingen van nieuwe of weinig bekende vischsoorten van Sumatra.
2. Bornbusch, A. H., 1995 - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 115: 1-46
   Phylogenetic relationships within the Eurasian catfish family Siluridae (Pisces: Siluriformes), with comments on generic validities and biogeography.
3. Ferraris, C. J., Jr., 2007 - Zootaxa 1418: 1-628
   Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types.
4. Ng, H-H. and M. Kottelat, 2013 - Zootaxa 3630: 308-316
   After eighty years of misidentification, a name for the glass catfish (Teleostei: Siluridae).
5. Roberts, T. R., 1989 - Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences No. 14: i-xii + 1-210
   The freshwater fishes of western Borneo (Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia).
6. Tan, H. H. and H. H. Ng, 2000 - Journal of Natural History 34(2): 267-303
   The catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) of central Sumatra.