Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Freshwater, Brackish, Fishery, Sport/Game, Threatened

Potamodromous. Migrating within streams, migratory in rivers, e.g. Saliminus, Moxostoma, Labeo. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Found in large rivers, lakes and tanks. A large, voracious and predatory catfish which thrives in heels with grassy margin ; mostly hides under holes in river banks and canals . Associated with deep, still or slow-flowing water with a mud or silt substrate . Sluggish and stays on muddy or silty bottom in search of food. Juveniles feed mainly on insects; adults feed on smaller fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Abundant during the warm season; a pre-monsoon summer breeder. In the Mekong, it is reported to migrate to smaller streams, canals and to the floodplain during the flood season . When the water level in the Mekong drops and the flood recedes, it moves to the Mekong or larger tributaries, where it stays in deep pools until the next inundation period . Destructive to other more valuable food-fishes. Bites strongly if handled, with its huge mouth, formidable jaws, and band of conical teeth.

Contracaecum Disease. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome. Viral ; Genarchopsis Infestation 7. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Gnathostoma Infestation. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Goezia Disease. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Isoparorchis Infestation. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Procamallanus Infection 6. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.) ; Spinitectus Infestation 2. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.)

Habitat demersal; potamodromous ; freshwater; brackish

Major rivers, tributaries, channels, floodplain wetlands, reservoirs and estuarine tidal water

Not Evaluated IUCN 2006

IUCN Redlist Category: Near Threatened

fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes