Photo: Astellar87, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Red-tailed black shark
Epalzeorhynchos bicolor
16 cm
Adult size
300 L
Minimum volume
1
Minimum group
15 years
Lifespan
Water parameters
Understand these values- Genus
- Epalzeorhynchos
- Diet
- omnivore
- Social life
- solitary
In the wild
Overview
Described in 1931 by the American zoologist Hugh M. Smith, the red-tailed black shark combines a velvety black body with a bright red tail. Long placed in the genus Labeo, it now belongs to the genus Epalzeorhynchos.
It is one of the most threatened aquarium fish: declared extinct in 1996, it was found again in 2011 in the Chao Phraya basin, then in 2014 in the Mae Klong. The IUCN lists it as critically endangered. The tens of thousands of fish exported every year all come from farms, where spawning is induced with hormones.
- Scientific name
- Epalzeorhynchos bicolor (Smith, 1931)
- Classification
- Cypriniformes › Cyprinidae
- IUCN Red List
- Critically endangered (CR)
Natural habitat
Endemic to Thailand: Chao Phraya, Mae Klong and Bangpakong basins
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Rivers and lakes
It was abundant in the early 20th century in the lower Mae Klong, the lower Chao Phraya and the Bangpakong, which flow into the head of the Gulf of Thailand. It lives in the main rivers and, in the rainy season, moves into flooded plains and forests; dams, pollution and river engineering have cut off these migrations.
The specimen found in the Mae Klong was caught in a stretch of clear, flowing water more than a metre deep, over sand and large boulders.
Behaviour
Often sold as a community fish, it is not one: discreet when young, it becomes more and more territorial as it grows and may harass species that look like it (other sharks, Crossocheilus, Garra). The rule is one fish per tank, in a spacious, well-structured aquarium.
It grazes the biofilm on surfaces (algae, small crustaceans, insect larvae) but is not a good algae eater. It can live for more than 15 years. It has not been bred in hobby aquariums.
Sources:FishBase Seriously Fish GBIF · Base map: Natural Earth