Pachypterus
(Neotropius) khavalchor was described
by Kulkarni (1952) from Krishna River, near Islampur,
Satara District and Panchaganga River, near Kolhapur,
Maharashtra India. There is no information about the
population status of Pachypterus khavalchor,
however, the species is very rare (Jayaram 1995, Menon
1999, 2004, Jadhav et al. 2011).The
area where Pachypteruskhavalchor
is found is affected by several threats including
urbanization, industrial developments, mining activities
and introduced species. Menon (1999) has suggested
that as any small change in the quality of water in
the upper reaches of the Krishna river system would
have adverse effects on the quality of the water downstream
which may result in the loss of N. khavalchor
IUCN 2011). Habitat: It is found
in slow moving turbid streams (Menon 1999, 2004).
Colouration: Silvery grey above,
pale below. A dark blotch on the occiput and caudal
base may be present.Diet:
It is a lepidophagous (scale eating) species (Kulkarni
1952). Remarks:Listed in Fishbase as still in the Schilbeidae
family but in the Catalog of Fishes the
current status is the family Horabagride.
Common
Name:
Khavalchor catfish
Synonyms:
Neotropius khavalchor
Family:
Horabagridae
Distribution:
Asia:Krishna river system in Maharashtra and middle
Pennar River in Andhra Pradesh, India.Type
Locality: Panchaganga River, near Kolhapur,
Bombay State, India.
Size:
15.0cm. T.L. (6ins)
Temp:
18-28°C (63-83°F)
p.H.
6.5-7.5.
Reference:
Dahanukar, N.
2011. Neotropius khavalchor. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species 2011. Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist
of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes),
and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa
1418:1-628. Froese, R. and D. Pauly.
Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic
publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 05/2019 ).
Jayaram, KC. 2006. Catfishes of India.
Narendra Publishing House, Delhi.
Pachypterus
khavalchor Panchaganga River
Maharashtra, India
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