Macrochirichthys

Macrochirichthys is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Xenocyprididae, the East Asian minnows or sharpbellies. The only species in the genus is Macrochirichthys macrochirus, the long pectoral-fin minnow and giant sword minnow or freshwater wolf-herring, a fish found in rivers and lakes in Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Thailand to the Greater Sundas) where it is used as a food fish.^[1][2] It is the only member of its genus. It is predatory and reaches up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.^[2]

Macrochirichthys
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Xenocyprididae
Genus:	Macrochirichthys Bleeker, 1860
Species:	M. macrochirus
Binomial name
Macrochirichthys macrochirus (Valenciennes, 1844)
Synonyms
Leuciscus macrochirus Valenciennes, 1844 Leuciscus uranoscopus Bleeker, 1850 Macrochirichthys snyderi Fowler, 1905 Macrochirichthys laosensis Fowler, 1934

Range in Thailand

Found in the south of Thailand, Chao Phraya River, Mekong River, Nan River, Mae Klong River, and Tapee River Basin from Nonthaburi, Ayutthaya, Ratchaburi and Chiang Rai Provinces.

The common names of this species of minnow in Thai are pla fak pra (ปลาฝักพร้า, lit "machete fish") and pla darb lao (ปลาดาบลาว, lit "Laotian blade fish") according to its shape.^[3]