Pangasius
Encyclopedia
Pangasius is a genus
of catfish
es (order
Siluriformes) of the shark catfish
family
(Pangasiidae).
) in the family Pangasiidae. At this point, it was separated into four subgenera. Pangasius (Pangasianodon) included P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus and was diagnosed by the absence of mandibular barbels
, the absence of teeth in adults and the presence of a single-lobed swimbladder
. Pangasius (Pteropangasius) included P. micronema and P. pleurotaenia and was diagnosed by four lobes in the swimbladder and with multiple segments in the last lobe. Pangasius (Neopangasius) included P. nieuwenhuisii, P. humeralis, P. lithostoma, P. kinabatanganensis, diagnosed by palatal
teeth arranged in a single large patch and high vertebral counts. Pangasius (Pangasius) was the final subgenus and had no diagnostic features, containing the remaining species. These subgeneric classifications were confirmed in 2000 except for Neopangasius, found to be polyphyletic
and to be part of Pangasius (Pangasius), thus leaving three subgenera.
Since then, the subgenera have been variably recognized as separate. P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus have been classified in the genus Pangasianodon, and P. micronemus and P. pleurotaenia in the genus Pseudolais (with Pteropangasius as a junior synonym
).
In 2009, Pangasius made it onto the National Fisheries Institute’s “Top Ten” list of the most consumed seafood in America. The Top 10 is based on tonnage of fish sold. According to the NFI, this mild-flavored white-flesh fish is farmed in Asia, and is being used increasingly in food service. It is finding its way onto restaurant menus and into stores as well, where one may see it called basa, tra, or swai.
Subgenus Pangasianodon
Subgenus Pangasius
Subgenus Pteropangasius Fowler
, 1937 (junior synonym of genus Pseudolais Vaillant
, 1902 in Ferraris, 2007)
period, possibly the Eocene
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of catfish
Catfish
Catfishes 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 heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
es (order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Siluriformes) of the shark catfish
Shark catfish
The shark catfishes are a family, the Pangasiidae, of catfishes found in fresh and brackish waters across southern Asia, from Pakistan to Borneo. Among the 30-odd members of this family is the plant-eating, endangered Mekong giant catfish Pangasianodon gigas, one of the largest known freshwater...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
(Pangasiidae).
Taxonomy
In 1993, Pangasius was one of two extant genera (along with HelicophagusHelicophagus
Helicophagus is a genus of catfishes of the family Pangasiidae. It includes three species, H. leptorhynchus, H. typus, and H. waandersii....
) in the family Pangasiidae. At this point, it was separated into four subgenera. Pangasius (Pangasianodon) included P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus and was diagnosed by the absence of mandibular barbels
Barbel (anatomy)
A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...
, the absence of teeth in adults and the presence of a single-lobed swimbladder
Gas bladder
The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy, and thus to stay at the current water depth without having to waste energy in swimming...
. Pangasius (Pteropangasius) included P. micronema and P. pleurotaenia and was diagnosed by four lobes in the swimbladder and with multiple segments in the last lobe. Pangasius (Neopangasius) included P. nieuwenhuisii, P. humeralis, P. lithostoma, P. kinabatanganensis, diagnosed by palatal
Palate
The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...
teeth arranged in a single large patch and high vertebral counts. Pangasius (Pangasius) was the final subgenus and had no diagnostic features, containing the remaining species. These subgeneric classifications were confirmed in 2000 except for Neopangasius, found to be polyphyletic
Polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded...
and to be part of Pangasius (Pangasius), thus leaving three subgenera.
Since then, the subgenera have been variably recognized as separate. P. gigas and P. hypophthalmus have been classified in the genus Pangasianodon, and P. micronemus and P. pleurotaenia in the genus Pseudolais (with Pteropangasius as a junior synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
).
In 2009, Pangasius made it onto the National Fisheries Institute’s “Top Ten” list of the most consumed seafood in America. The Top 10 is based on tonnage of fish sold. According to the NFI, this mild-flavored white-flesh fish is farmed in Asia, and is being used increasingly in food service. It is finding its way onto restaurant menus and into stores as well, where one may see it called basa, tra, or swai.
Species
Species list according to Ferraris, 2007, but listing genera as subgenera.Subgenus Pangasianodon
- Mekong giant catfishMekong giant catfishThe Mekong giant catfish, Pangasianodon gigas, is a species of catfish in the shark catfish family , native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia.-Species characteristics:...
, Pangasius gigas Chevey, 1931 - Iridescent sharkIridescent sharkThe iridescent shark is a species of shark catfish native to the rivers of Southeast Asia. It is found in the Mekong basin as well as the Chao Phraya River, and is heavily cultivated for food there...
, Pangasius hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878)
Subgenus Pangasius
- Basa fishBasa fishThe basa fish, Pangasius bocourti, is a type of catfish in the family Pangasiidae. Basa are native to the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam and Chao Phraya basin in Thailand. These fish are important food fish with an international market. They are often labeled in North America and Australia as "basa...
, Pangasius bocourti Sauvage, 1880 - Pangasius conchophilus Roberts & Vidthayanon, 1991
- Pangasius djambal BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1846 - Pangasius elongatus Pouyaud, Gustiano & Teugels, 2002
- Pangasius humeralis Roberts, 1989
- †ExtinctionIn biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
Pangasius indicus (Marck, 1876) - Pangasius kinabatanganensis Roberts & Vidthayanon, 1991
- Pangasius krempfi Fang & Chaux, 1949
- Pangasius kunyit Pouyaud, Teugels & Legendre, 1999
- Spot pangasius, Pangasius larnaudii Bocourt, 1866
- Pangasius lithostoma Roberts, 1989
- Pangasius macronema BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1851 - Pangasius mahakamensis Pouyaud, Gustiano & Teugels, 2002
- Pangasius mekongensis Gustiano, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2003
- Shortbarbel pangasius, Pangasius micronemus BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1847 - Pangasius myanmar Roberts & Vidthayanon, 1991
- Pangasius nasutus (BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1863) - Pangasius nieuwenhuisii (Popta, 1904)
- Yellowtail catfish, Pangasius pangasiusPangasius pangasiusPangasius pangasius or Pangash is a catfish of the Pangasiidae family, available in the Bay of Bengal....
(HamiltonFrancis Buchanan-HamiltonDr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist while living in India.The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.-Ham. is applied to...
, 1822) - Pangasius polyuranodon BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1852 - Pangasius rheophilus Pouyaud & Teugels, 2000
- Pangasius sabahensis Gustiano, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2003
- Giant pangasiusGiant pangasiusThe giant pangasius or Chao Phraya giant catfish is a species of freshwater fish in the shark catfish family of order Siluriformes, found in the Chao Phraya and Mekong basins. These fish are benthopelagic swimmers.- Physical characteristics :The giant pangasius is pigmented with dusky melanophores...
, Pangasius sanitwongsei Smith, 1931
Subgenus Pteropangasius Fowler
Henry Weed Fowler
Henry Weed Fowler was an American zoologist born in Holmesburg, Pennsylvania.He studied at Stanford University under David Starr Jordan...
, 1937 (junior synonym of genus Pseudolais Vaillant
Léon Vaillant
Léon Louis Vaillant was a French zoologist. He is most famous for his work in the areas of herpetology, malacology, and ichthyology...
, 1902 in Ferraris, 2007)
- Pangasius micronemus BleekerPieter BleekerPieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia – Atlas Ichthyologique des Orientales Neerlandaises – which was published 1862–1877....
, 1847 - Pangasius pleurotaenia Sauvage, 1878
Fossil record
The single fossil species of this genus, P. indicus, is reported from the TertiaryTertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period, possibly the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
.