Fisherman nets rare ‘Amazon Sailfin Catfish’ in Khammam

A fisherman, Earla Venkateshwarlu, belonging to the village has caught the fish while he was fishing in a local stream

Khammam: An ‘Amazon Sailfin Catfish’ has been caught at Chinnamandava village of Chintakani mandal in the district on Monday. A fisherman, Earla Venkateshwarlu, belonging to the village has caught the fish while he was fishing in a local stream.

Speaking to Telangana Today, he said he has been engaged in fishing for the past 10 years but had never caught such a fish. “We do not know what the fish is called and all our villagers are curious to have a glimpse of the fish and arrived at my residence as they also had never seen such a fish”, he said.

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It might be recalled that on August 23, a fisherman, Degala Veeraiah of Narsimhulugudem village of Kusumanchi mandal in the district had also caught a similar fish in a tank in the village.

According to experts, the fish with scientific name Pterygoplichthys pardalis is a freshwater tropical fish in the armored catfish family (Loricariidae). The species is native to the Amazon River Basin of Brazil and Peru.

The Amazon Sailfin Catfish is an invasive species, competes and occupies space with local species. And in the August a fisherman had also caught a similar fish at Palair and is being grown an aquarium at Fisheries Research Station (FRS), Palair in the district.

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