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Scientific Name Mystus malabaricus  (Jerdon, 1849)
Common Name Jerdon's Mystus
Type Locality Mountain streams of Malabar, India.
Synonym(s) Bagrus malabaricus, Macrones malabaricus
Pronunciation miss tuss - mah lah bar ree kess
Etymology The generic name is probably derived from the Latin mystax, meaning moustache, in reference to the long barbels. It was first used by Scopoli in 1777 making it a very old genus that has included many catfishes from throughout the world at one time or another. Named after its type locality (the Malabar region in southern India).
Hop to next section Species Information
Size 150mm or 5.9" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification Fishes of the genus Mystus Scopoli are small to medium-sized bagrid catfishes occurring in South Asia. Roberts (1994) recognized Mystus to have an elongate cranial fontanel reaching up to the base of the occipital process, long maxillary barbel, very long adipose fin, 11–30 gill rakers on the first gill arch and 37–46 total vertebrae, about equally divided between abdominal and caudal regions. He included only eight species under the genus. Mo (1991) characterized the genus to have a thin needle-like first infraorbital, twisted and thickened metapterygoid loosely attached to the quadrate by means of ligament or a small extent of cartilage. Jayaram & Sanyal (2003) and Ferraris (2007) respectively listed 44 and 33 species of Mystus as valid.

Distinguished by a moderately long adipose fin, a deep caudal peduncle and a dark midlateral stripe.
Sexing Males have an elongate genital papilla in front of the anal fin.
Hop to next section Habitat Information
Distribution Asia: Western Ghats of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra in India.
Indian waters, Karnataka State Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Indian waters, Kerala State Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Indian waters, Maharashtra State Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Indian waters, Western Ghats Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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IUCN Red List Category Near Threatened, range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2010.
pH 6.0 - 7.0
Temperature 20.0-27.0°C or 68-80.6°F (Show species within this range)
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Feeding Easily adapts to a wide variety of frozen and prepared food in the aquarium. May eat very small fish. User data.
Furniture The tank should be furnished with ample driftwood and rocks as hiding spaces.
Compatibility Compatible with most fishes, although very small fishes will be eaten. Ideal tankmates include larger barbs and rasboras in an Asian biotope setup.
Breeding Not reported.
Breeding Reports There is no breeding report.
Hop to next section Further Information
Reference Madras Journal of Literature and Science v. 15 (pt 2), pp 338.
Registered Keepers There is no registered keeper.
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Last Update 2020 Sep 28 01:30 (species record created: 2001 May 03 00:00)