Cooper Creek catfish

Cooper Creek catfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Siluriformes
Family: Plotosidae
Genus: Neosiluroides
Allen & Feinberg, 1998
Species:
N. cooperensis
Binomial name
Neosiluroides cooperensis
Allen & Feinberg, 1998

The Cooper Creek catfish (Neosiluroides cooperensis), also known as the Cooper Creek tandan,[1] is a species of catfish (order Siluriformes) of the family Plotosidae, and is the only species of the genus Neosiluroides.[2][3] The species’ scientific name Neosiluroides came from the genus Neosilurus to which the Cooper Creek Catfish bears some resemblance.[4] The second part of its name, cooperensis, is a reference to the sole location of the species in the Cooper Creek Catchment.[4] It is an eel-tailed freshwater fish that resides in the Cooper Creek system of the Lake Eyre drainage in southern Queensland, Australia.[4][2][5] This species grows up to about 46.0 centimetres (18.1 in) SL.[5]

It is usually found in larger, more permanent waterholes with an earth and clay substrate, where significant flow occurs only after severe rainfall events; at this time, water is typically very turbid. It is very aggressive towards other fishes, particularly in captivity.[5] These fish feed on gastropods and crustaceans.[5] This species has the largest egg size (3–4 millimetres or .12–.16–in) and the lowest fecundity (about 1000 eggs per spawning) per unit length of any plotosid catfish in Australia.[5]

It is currently listed as an endangered species.[6]

  1. ^ Arthington, Angela H.; Balcombe, Stephen R. (September 2011). "Extreme flow variability and the 'boom and bust' ecology of fish in arid-zone floodplain rivers: a case history with implications for environmental flows, conservation and management". Ecohydrology. 4 (5): 708–720. doi:10.1002/eco.221. hdl:10072/42402. S2CID 130875946.
  2. ^ a b Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1418.1.1.
  3. ^ "Cooper Creek Catfish". Fish.gov.au. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  4. ^ a b c "Neosiluroides cooperensis". fishesofaustralia.net.au. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Neosiluroides cooperensis". FishBase. Aug 2007 version.
  6. ^ IUCN (11 February 2019). "Neosiluroides cooperensis: Arthington, A., Sternberg, D., Cockayne, B. & Schmarr, D.: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T122900149A123382031". doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2019-3.rlts.t122900149a123382031.en. hdl:10072/391750. S2CID 242612745. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)