Akysis hendricksoni ALFRED, 1966

Hendrickson's Stream Catfish

Etymology

Akysis: from the Greek á- (Gr. ἀ), meaning ‘not, without’ and kýstis (Gr. κύστις), meaning ‘bladder’, in reference to genus members lacking a swim bladder.

hendricksoni: named for marine biologist John R. Hendrickson (1921-2002), who was a mentor to Alfred and helped collect the holotype of this species.

Classification

Order: Siluriformes Family: Akysidae

Distribution

Described from the ‘Trengganu River at Kuala Brang, Trengganu, Malaysia’ which corresponds to the the town now known as Kuala Berang on the Sungai (river) Terengganu, Terengganu state, northeastern Peninsular Malaysia.

Additional records exist from the Endau, Sabak Bernam and Golok (aka Kolok) river drainages meaning the species is distributed throughout much of Peninsular Malaysia and into the extreme south of Thailand.

Habitat

The type locality was a stagnant backwater with substrate composed of sand, mud, silt and leaf litter and containing clear water, but was not typical based on more recent observations. Members of this genus are in fact near-exclusive inhabitants of swiftly-flowing streams and rivers with substrates generally consisting of any combination of sand, gravel and rocks.

Water is normally transparent to slightly turbid, though overall volume, flow, and thus the amount of suspended material tend to increase significantly during rainy periods. Aquatic plants are not normally present though there may be patches of leaf litter or underwater structures such as fallen branches or roots protruding from banks.

In the Endau river drainage, Johor state, southern Peninsular Malaysia this species was recorded from a large (around 10 m wide) stream with a sandy substrate, slightly tannin-stained water of neutral pH and moderate flow. The specimens were collected among patches of submerged Cryptocoryne affinis alongside numerous syntopic species including Pangio cuneovirgata, P. doriae, P. malayana, P. piperata, P. shelfordii, Homaloptera nebulosa, H. ogilviei, H. orthogoniata, H. tweediei, H. zollingeri, the congener Akysis microps, Leiocassis micropogon, Nanobagrus fuscus, Pseudomystus stenomus, Glyptothorax aff. major and Mastacembelus favus.

Maximum Standard Length

40 – 50 mm.

Aquarium SizeTop ↑

A tank with base dimensions of 45 ∗ 30 cm is more than sufficient, even for a group.

Maintenance

Not difficult to keep but should really be provided with a soft, sandy substrate since some of its time is spent completely buried, or with only eyes protruding. It also appears to enjoy squeezing into crevices between rockwork and other solid surfaces so additional décor could include some water-worn rocks of various sizes, plus perhaps some driftwood roots and branches.

Although aquatic plants are unlikely to be a feature of its natural habitat some can be added if you wish with those that can be grown attached to rocks and wood, such as Microsorum, Anubias or various moss species particularly useful since they will not be disturbed by the fishes’ burrowing activity. Leaf litter can also be employed with dried beech, oak or Ketapang leaves all suitable.

Like many fishes that naturally inhabit running water it’s intolerant to accumulation of organic pollutants and requires spotless water in order to thrive. It also does best if there is a relatively high proportion of dissolved oxygen and decent water movement in the tank. Weekly water changes of 30-50% tank volume should be considered routine.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 16.5 – 24 °C

pH: 6.0 – 7.2

Hardness: 36 – 215 ppm

Diet

Akysis species are primarily nocturnal micropredators feeding on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and other zooplankton. They can be a little picky in the aquarium and may not accept dried foods although in some cases they will learn to take them over time.

At any rate they should always be offered regular meals of small live or frozen fare such as Artemia, Daphnia, bloodworm or glassworm, ideally after dark in order that they can demonstrate natural behaviour, though once settled most specimens will emerge at feeding times. If the specimens are very small you may need to chop the food accordingly.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑

Not especially competitive and should not be kept with much larger or more aggressive fishes. Miniature schooling cyprinids such as Boraras, Microdevario or smaller Danio/Rasbora species make good tankmates and if geography isn’t an issue many similarly-sized characins and livebearers should also work.

Other similarly-sized akysid catfishes plus smaller sisorids such as Erithistes, Erethistoides, Hara, Pseudolaguvia and many Glyptothorax spp. are recommended for the lower levels.

In addition, many balitorid loaches from genera such as Gastromyzon, Pseudogastromyzon and Homaloptera are also suitable. Some members of the families Botiidae, Cobitidae and Nemacheilidae are ok but proper research is essential as some can be excessively aggressive/territorial or simply grow too large, and it’s also proven to co-exist peacefully with freshwater shrimp.

It’s nonaggressive towards conspecifics and can be kept singly or in a group as preferred.

Sexual Dimorphism

Unreported, but sexual dimorphism has been reported in A. alfredi (Ng and Kottelat, 1998), A. fuscus (Ng, 1996) and A. microps (Ng and Tan, 1999). In the former two species the anus is located anterior to a genital papilla in males, this structure having a genital opening covered by a fleshy flap at its tip and situated immediately posterior to the base of the pelkvic fins.

In females the anus is located more posteriorly and the genital papilla is formed by a short appendage with an opening at the tip, this structure being situated approximately level with the poterior end of the inner pelvic fin ray.

In A. alfredi the distance between the origin of the first pelvic fin ray and the first anal fin ray is less than in females (13.8-17.5% of standard length (SL) vs. 17.7-18.4%) but in A. fuscus the opposite is true. The pelvic fins in males are also shorter than in females (12.9-14.2% SL vs. 14.1-15.5%), closer together (distance between pelvic fins 4.0-4.9% SL vs. 4.8-5.5%), usually overlapping posteriorly (vs. spread laterally) nand often curved to forma bowl-like shape (vs. straight).

In A. microps the genital papilla in males has a bulbous base with the genital opening at the tip not covered by a fleshy flap, while in females the genital opening is only partially covered by an appendage and there are no obvious differences in pelvic fin morphology between the two genders.

According to Vishwanath et al. (2007) male specimens of A. prashadi possess a short, conical genital papilla immediately posterior to the anus while females have a flattened papilla with radial grooves at the pore.

Reproduction

Unreported, though a short report was published in the description of A. vespa (Ng and Kottelat, 2004), in which a successful spawning event was apparently triggered by a significant decrease in temperature of around 44.6°F/7°C.

Several males were observed in pursuit of a gravid female, and the successful individual was allowed to wrap its body around that of the female at which point eggs and milt were released. The eggs hatched 4 days post-spawn with the yolk sac fully-absorbed after 10 days. Adult patterning was fully-developed after just 23 days.

NotesTop ↑

This species is among the few members of the family to have been exported for the aquarium hobby. It can be differentiated from all other Akysis species by the following combination of characters: head length 17.7-26.5% of standard length (SL); head width 25.4-28.7% SL; body depth at anus 13.0-17.0% SL; caudal peduncle depth 8.1-10.1% SL; interorbital distance 43.0-64.0% of head length (HL); nasal barbel length 55.0-79.0% HL; maxillary barbel length 102.0-167.0% HL; possession of 4-6 serrae on posterior edge of pectoral fin spine; caudal fin deeply emarginate.

Colour patterning in this species has been observed to vary depending on collection locality. For example, in specimens from northeastern and western Peninsular Malaysia possess a small, yellowish marking on the predorsal region, but in those from southern Thailand this marking is larger and forms a ‘V’ shape which extends onto the sides of the body.

Individuals from southern Peninsular Malaysia exhibit a more extensive yellow marking at the tip of the snout, and in some smaller specimens the lighter body markings are almost completely reduced.

Members of the family Akysidae are often referred to collectively as ‘Asian stream catfishes’ since the majority are exclusive inhabitants of such environments. All have four pairs of barbels, and within this larger grouping Akysis species are diagnosable by possession of tuberculate skin and cryptic colour patterning typically comprising yellowish bands or blotches on a brownish background.

Based on various morphological aspects the genus as originally considered was split into the A. variegatus and A. pseudobagarius species groups by Ng and Kottelat (1998), but all species of the latter group were reassigned to the genus Pseudobagarius by Ferraris (2007) on the basis of the following shared characters: tip of snout extends anterior to margin of lower jaw; mouth subterminal; narial openings (anterior and posterior nostrils) relatively large and closely-set; caudal fin deeply forked.

Pseudobagarius spp. also tend to have a relatively extended body shape compared with Akysis, while in the latter the snout tip extends only slightly beyond the margin of the lower jaw, mouth orientation terminal to slightly subterminal, narial openings relatively small and widely-spaced and caudal fin truncate or emarginate.

In recent phylogenetic analyses the family Akysidae has been grouped into an assemblage informally referred to as ‘Big Asia’ where it occupies a basal position and is most closely related to the families Amblycipitidae, Sisoridae and Erethistidae, these apparently forming a monophyletic group alongside the Bagridae and Horabagridae.

The South American family Aspredinidae has often been affiliated with Akysidae in earlier studies, but is now considered more closely associated with the Doradidae and Auchenipteridae.

All akysids possess venom apparatus at the base of the dorsal and pectoral spines and though not dangerous to a healthy human can inflict a painful sting, so should be handled with care when being removed from the water for any reason or during aquarium maintenance.

References

1. Alfred, E. R., 1966 - Copeia 1966 (3): 467-470
   A new catfish of the genus Akysis from Malaya.
2. Ferraris, C. J., Jr., 2007 - Zootaxa 1418: 1-628
   Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types.
3. Ng, H. H., 1996 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 44(1): 3-10
   Akysis heterurus, a new species of catfish (Teleostei: Akysidae) from eastern Sumatra, with notes on Akysis hendricksoni Alfred.
4. Ng, H. H., 1999 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 47(2): 541-548
   The Akysis of Myanmar: a review (Teleostei: Akysidae).
5. Ng, H. H., 2006 - Zootaxa 1150: 19-30
   Akysis longifilis, a new species of catfish (Teleostei: Akysidae) from Myanmar.
6. Ng, H. H., 2008 - Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 91(3): 255-262
   Akysis vespertinus, a new species of catfish from Myanmar (Siluriformes: Akysidae).
7. Ng, H. H., 2009 - Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(1): 2-8
   Akysis portellus sp. nov., a new species of catfish (Teleostei: Akysidae) from the Sittang River drainage, Myanmar.
8. Ng, H. H. and D. J. Siebert, 2004 - Zootaxa 733: 1-8
   A new species of the catfish genus Akysis (Siluriformes: Akysidae) from southern Borneo.
9. Ng, H. H. and H.-H. Tan, 1999 - Zoological Studies 38(3): 350-366
   The fishes of the Endau drainage, Peninsular Malaysia with descriptions of two new species of catfishes (Teleostei: Akysidae, Bagridae).
10. Ng, H. H. and M. Kottelat, 1998 - Journal of Natural History 32(7): 1057-1097
    The catfish genus Akysis Bleeker (Teleostei: Akysidae) in Indochina, with descriptions of six new species.
11. Ng, H. H. and W. J. Rainboth, 2005 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 13: 33-42
    Four new species of Akysis (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Akysidae) from mainland southeast Asia, with comments on A. similis.
12. Page, L. M., R. K. Hadiaty, J. A. López, I. Rachmatika and R. H. Robins, 2007 - Copeia 2007 (2): 292-303
    Two new species of the Akysis variegatus species group (Siluriformes: Akysidae) from southern Sumatra and a redescription of Akysis variegatus Beeker, 1846.
13. Sullivan, J. P., J. G. Lundberg and M. Hardman, 2006 - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41(3): 636–662
    A phylogenetic analysis of the major groups of catfishes (Teleostei: Siluriformes) using rag1 and rag2 nuclear gene sequences.