| Los Amigos del Pilcomayo |
Pimelodus albicans
In co-operation with department of Aquatic Ecology & Environmental Biology.
Fishes of the Pilcomayo
Common name: Bagre blanco
photo by Max van de Ven
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Siluriformes (catfish)
Family: Pimelodidae
Species
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| Source: translated from: Peces de los Ríos Bermejo, Juramento y Cuencas Endorreicas de la Provincia Salta; Gladys Monasterio de Gonzo; Museo de Ciencias Naturales y Consejo de Investigación Universidad Nacional de Salta; Octubre 2003. Pimelodus albicans (Valenciennes, 1840) Common Name: Bagre blanco, moncholo. Identification: This is a very common species in the County, easily recognizable for their big and proportionally low head, of right profile and lifted regularly until the origin of the dorsal fin. The nostrils, placed more near the later border of the mouth than of the eyes. The maxillary barbs are long, they reach until the end of the caudal fin, although in some individuals they only reach until the end of the fatty fin. The mentonianas and post-mentonianas barbs reach the pectoral fins. The back of the head shines a very fine skin and a granulated one bony tiny. The eyes are small. The front fontanela surpasses the later border of the eyes lightly. The occipital process is relatively short, it fits more than three times in the longitude of the head. The dorsal fin is high. The first thorny radio is smaller than the longitude of the head and it can have the later flat border or with tiny thorns in the superior third. The pectoral strong thorn is also of smaller longitude that the head, with dentículos in its two borders. On the previous border. The dentículos is retrorsos' and in the border later dentículos antrorsos. The fatty fin is long, it fits approximately four times in the longitude standard. their height is more than four times its length. The caudal fin presents unequal lobes, being the most lingering number that the ventral one. Colour: Silver leaden, with three plated strips longitudinal target. The first, throughout the back. embracing the back of the head and the fins number and fatty: a lateral strip on the line of pores and another narrower one under the lateral line. Dimensions: Up to 600 mm. Ecology: This species is inhabitant of funds, preferably muddy and vegetated. It is of omnivorous regime and it consumes insects, small crustaceans and other fish. In stomach contents of specimens of reservoirs remains and otolites of Astyanax sp were identified. It carries out short migrations in reproduction times. One of the species appreciated for consumption. |
Bagre blanco (Pimelodus albicans) This inhabitant of the muddy funds of the rivers of the La Plata basin is very similar in form and habits to the yellow bagre. Of gray leaden color, in juveniles four or five horizontal dark fringes line the back and the flanks. In aquariums their coloration is darkened. Varied diet, that changes with the age. It eats invertebrates like snails and insects, while the biggest individuals, known as "moncholos", can also ingest small fish. It usually overcomes the two kilos, and although the meat is not among the most appreciated ones, its abundance and easy fishing make it to be enough consumed. In areas with high levels of contamination it is advised to avoid ingestion, since it can accumulate heavy metals in their body. As other bagres, it possesses poisonous spines in their pectoral and lateral fins. It can have them deployed with stability, what makes them more than a complication to the biguáes, garzas and other animals that try to eat them. The mandil morotí, Guarani name that designates this fish, makes migratory displacements for the different rivers that compose the La Plata basin. |