Australia country information

Common names: Catfish, Cattie, Dewfish
Occurrence: endemic
Salinity: freshwater
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Found in Murray-Darling River system of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and southern Queensland. Also occurs in coastal drainages of eastern Australia from Cape York, Queensland, to Clarence River, northern New South Wales (Ref. 5259). Known from Mulgrave and South Johnstone rivers, Wet Tropics, Northern Queensland (Ref. 40054); Burdekin River (Ref. 40171). Conservation status : Vulnerable in Victoria (Ref. 48666). Also found from the Hawkesbury river (New South Wales) to the Daintree river north of Cairns (Queensland) (Ref. 44894).
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.csiro.au/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Allen, G.R., 1989
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Tandan catfish, 澳洲鳗鲶, Dewfish, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Siluriformes (Catfishes) > Plotosidae (Eeltail catfishes)
Etymology: Tandanus: A local name, tandan, in Australia.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - ? m. Temperate; 5°C - 25°C (Ref. 2060); 12°S - 43°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Oceania: endemic to Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 45.0 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); common length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); max. published weight: 6.8 kg (Ref. 36739); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 1107)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Head large; thick and fleshy lips; nostrils tubular. First dorsal fin high, with a strong serrated spine and 6 rays. Skin tough and smooth. Body coloration in adults vary from olive-green to brown, black or purplish dorsally and white ventrally. Urogenital papilla triangular in females; longer and cylindrical in males.

Adults inhabit slow moving streams, lakes and ponds with fringing vegetation. They swim close to sand or gravel bottoms. More abundant in lakes than in flowing water (Ref. 44894). Usually solitary but juveniles sometimes form loose aggregations. Mainly bottom-feeders (Ref. 44894). Feed on insect larvae, prawns, crayfish, mollusks, and small fishes. Breeding occurs between spring and mid-summer when water temperatures rise to between 20° and 24°C (Ref. 44894). Utilized for human consumption.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Water temperature (20-24 °C) considered the primary spawning stimulus. There is direct pairing during spawning. Male builds nest (0.6-2.0 m in diameter) and cares for eggs in the nest up to 2 weeks. The nest is made of gravel and rocks with a central sandy depression in which the female deposits up to 20,000 eggs depending on her size (Ref. 5259). Eggs scattered into the rubble are tended and guarded by the male after the female departs (Ref. 205). Hatching occurs in 7-10 days at 18°C (Ref. 240).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1989. Freshwater fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. (Ref. 5259)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 13 February 2019

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Venomous (Ref. 4537)

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5625 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00646 (0.00279 - 0.01495), b=3.07 (2.87 - 3.27), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.3 ±0.48 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=5; K=0.10).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Tandanus tandanus (Mitchell, 1838)