Hemibagrus Temporal range:
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Hemibagrus planiceps | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Siluriformes |
Family: | Bagridae |
Genus: | Hemibagrus Bleeker, 1862 |
Type species | |
Bagrus nemurus Valenciennes, 1840
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Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Hemibagrus is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Bagridae.
The genus Hemibagrus is known from Southeast Asia, India, and southern China.[1] Members of this genus are found ubiquitously in river drainages east of the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin and south of the Yangtze basin, and reach their greatest diversity in Sundaland.[2]
This genus consists of large-sized catfishes.[2] H. wyckioides is the largest Bagrid catfish in central Indochina and may reach 80 kilograms.[3] It includes species with depressed (flattened) heads, rugose (ridged or wrinkled) head shields not covered by skin, and moderately long adipose fins.[2]
In Southeast Asia, Hemibagrus species are an important source of animal protein.[3]
The extinct species, H. major,[4][5] is a fossil species from a Miocene lake fauna from what is now Ban Nong Pia, Phetchabun Province of Thailand.