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Obbes' Catfish
Porochilus obbesi Weber, 1913
Two Obbes' Catfish photographed in an aquarium. The fish were collected at a depth of 0.5m in a backwater swampy area of Burton's Creek, south-west of Darwin, October 2002. View larger image.
Obbes' Catfish has a tapering body with a short-based first dorsal fin. It's long-based anal fin is continuous with the caudal and second dorsal fin. The first dorsal and pectoral fins are each preceded by a sharp spine.
It is grey to brown, sometimes with one or two pale stripes on the side of the body.
Obbes' Catfish grows to 12cm in length, but is more commonly seen up to 8cm.
This species occurs in slow-flowing freshwater streams and backwaters in southern Papua New Guinea and northern Australia.
In Australia it has been recorded from Yam Creek (Daly River Drainage) and Fish Creek (East Alligator River Drainage), Northern Territory and the Wenlock and Jardine Rivers near the tip of Cape York, Queensland. It has also been collected from other areas in the northern Northern Territory (pers. comm. D. Buckle and R. Luxon, 2003).
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1989. Freshwater Fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications. Pp. 240.
- Allen, G.R. 1991. Field Guide to The Freshwater Fishes of New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute. Pub. 9. Pp. 268.
- Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & M. Allen. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 394.
- Merrick, J.R. & G.E. Schmida. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes. Biology and Management. John R. Merrick. Pp. 409.
- Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen & J.E. Hanley. 1989. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol.7 Pisces Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Survey. Pp. i-xii, 1-665.
