Megalechis picta, Spotted hoplo : fisheries, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Megalechis picta (Müller & Troschel, 1849)

Spotted hoplo
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Megalechis picta (Spotted hoplo)
Megalechis picta
Picture by Galvis, G./Mojica, J.I./Camargo, M.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Callichthyidae (Callichthyid armored catfishes) > Callichthyinae
Etymology: Megalechis: Greek, megas, megalos = great + greek, echis, -eos = viper (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Müller & Troschel.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 5 - 19. Tropical; 18°C - 28°C (Ref. 1672)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

South America: Amazon and Orinoco River basins, as well as coastal rivers of the Guianas and northern Brazil.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 17.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 121647); max. published weight: 350.00 g (Ref. 27188)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Obligate air-breathing (Ref. 126274); Ubiquitous (Ref. 35381). Occurs in ponds (Ref. 11229), swamps and flooded savanna. May also occur in inland creeks with strong current. When the swamps are drained during the dry season, they burrow in the mud at a depth of 15-25 cm and remain there until the first rains. They hide only at the bottom of the marshes which remain always a little muddy even during the dry season. Today, they are presently captured with the net. Previously, fishermen drained the marshes in order to unearth the fish which had hidden there (Ref. 27188). Omnivore (Ref. 26543). Intestinal breathing, complementary to branchial breathing, enables them to adapt to extreme hypoxic conditions which occur in their biotopes. For these reasons, the relevant intestinal zone has a more reduced mucus epithelium as well as an increased blood system. In the dry season when swamps get dry, they sink deeper into the muddy substrate down to a depth of 20 cm. This way, they live at a slower pace, often in groups, until the next rainy season. At the end of October, the fishermen dig them up because they are appreciated for their flesh. At other times, they are fished with nets (Ref. 35381).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Male builds nests in shallow swamps or swamp forests during the rainy season.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Reis, Roberto E. | Collaborators

Reis, R.E., P.-Y. Le Bail and J.H.A. Mol, 2005. New arrangement in the synonymy of Megalechis Reis, 1997 (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae). Copeia 2005(3):678-682. (Ref. 57766)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 October 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01698 (0.00695 - 0.04150), b=2.99 (2.78 - 3.20), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (11 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.