Gilded catfish

The gilded catfish, Jau catfish or dourado catfish, (Zungaro zungaro) is a South American catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Pimelodidae. It is also known as manguruyu or black manguruyu.^[2]

Gilded catfish
de Castelnau, 1821
Napo River basin
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Pimelodidae
Genus:	Zungaro
Species:	Z. zungaro
Binomial name
Zungaro zungaro (Humboldt in Humboldt and Valenciennes, 1821)
Subspecies
Zungaro zungaro mangurus (Valenciennes, 1835) Zungaro zungaro zungaro (Humboldt, 1821)
Synonyms
Pimelodus zungaro Humboldt, 1821 Bagrus flavicans Castelnau, 1855 Brachyplatystoma flavicans (Castelnau, 1855) Zungaro humboldtii Bleeker, 1858 Paulicea luetkeni (Steindachner, 1877)

Taxonomy

By some sources, it is the only species of the monotypic genus Zungaro.^[3] However, some sources list other species as valid, such as Zungaro jahu.^[4] This species may be referred to by one of its synonyms, Brachyplatystoma flavicans.^[5] This species contains two subspecies, Z. z. mangurus and Z. z. zungaro.^[6]

Distribution and habitat

They are sexually mature upon reaching 10 kg (22 lb) weight.^[5] This fish native to the Orinoco and Amazon basins; in the Amazon, this fish is found quite upstream, in the main bed of the big tributaries with muddy bottoms.^[5]

Description

This fish reaches 140 cm (55 in) in total length, and specimens measuring 130 cm (51 in) and weighing 50 kg (110 lb) are not rare.^[5] These fish are mainly piscivorous, hunt at night, and sometimes go into flood-prone areas of rivers. Some migrations in pursuit of migrating Triportheus and Anodus have been reported. The nursery ground is at the mouths of rivers.^[5]