The bayad (''Bagrus bajad''), is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bagrid catfish The Bagridae are a family of catfish that are native to Africa ('' Bagrus'') and Asia (all other genera) from Japan to Borneo. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes. Many large bagri ...

from Africa.

Distribution

The natural habitat of the bayad are lakes and rivers in Africa. These include lakes such as Lake Chad, Lake Albert, and Lake Turkana, as well as rivers such as the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

, the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesSenegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Description

The bayad's body is generally elongated in shape. The dorsal fin has a smooth spine, and the pectoral fins have spines with serrations on the inside. There are four pairs of barbel anatomy barbels. The maxillary barbels usually reach to the ventral fin or pelvic fins. This fish is yellow-greenish or blackish with a white belly. The fins are darker, sometimes reddish purple. Juveniles have little black spots on the sides. The bayad has a maximum size of about 112 centimetres (44.1 in) FL. It has a maximum published weight of 12.5 kilograms (27.5 lb), but is reputed to reach 100 kg (220 lb). Mean sizes and weight of males are less than those of females from the same age. Males grow up to 7 years old, females 8 years (Ref. 51644).

Ecology

The bayad is found in lakes, swamps and rivers. It avoids

salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

. This species spends nearly the whole of the daylight hours in crevices of rocks and is therefore seldom seen. It lives and feeds on or near the bottom. Adults are exclusively

piscivorous A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. The name ''piscivore'' is derived . Piscivore is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophage, both of which mean "fish eater". Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evoluti ...

; it preys on small fish, particularly ''

Alestes ''Alestes'' is a genus in the family Alestidae, known as the "African Characidae" as they are found exclusively on that continent. As suggested by that name, they Alestidae was formerly included in Characidae. ''Myletes'' is a synonym of ''Ales ...

'' species, or '' Chrysichthys auratus'' as in Lake Kainji. These fish also feed on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s, and vegetable matter. The efficiency of catching prey catfish is maximised by face to face attack, avoiding damage by dorsal and pectoral spines of the prey. There is some indication that the species comes to shallower water to breed.

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

season extends from April to July. The parents build and guard the nest, which is like a flat disc with a central hole where the eggs are dropped; the size of the nest and the central hole depend on the fish size.

Relationship to humans

The bayad is an important food fish. The bayad flesh is good eating and is of economic importance, commonly sold as food.

References

Images and details at Planetcatfish
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3768532 Bagrus Fish of Lake Turkana Freshwater fish of Kenya Freshwater fish of West Africa Fish of Cameroon Fish of Chad Fish of Egypt Fish of Ethiopia Fish of Sudan Fish of Uganda Catfish of Africa Fish described in 1775 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot