Hoplias malabaricus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Characiformes (Characins)
Erythrinidae (Trahiras)
Hoplias
Hoplias malabaricus
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated.
Distribution
Central and South America: Costa Rica to Argentina in most rivers basins.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic. Found in: streams, lakes.
Biology
Occurs in diverse habitats from free flowing clear water streams, well up into the valleys, to slow turbid waters, water courses, irrigation and drainage ditches, and ponds on the plains (Ref. 11225). Rests in vegetation during the day and is active at night (Ref. 6858). Adults feed on fish; juveniles feed on crustacean and insect larvae (Ref. 26543), shrimps and other small invertebrates (Ref. 12225). Spawn in pits located in shallow water at a temperature of about 26°C (Ref. 205). Males guard the nests even after the eggs have hatched (Ref. 205). Reaches more than 3 kg (Mark Fitzgerald, pers. comm., 2001). Live fish are difficult to handle and potentially dangerous because of their sharp teeth, strong jaws, and slippery bodies.
Max length: 65.0 cm TL; max weight: 3800 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (nesters). Eggs are fertilized in the cupped anal fin of the female. When the eggs get sticky, they are dropped into a pit which will be guarded by the male even until after the eggs have hatched (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-04-15. Resilience: Low (K=0.08).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Goulding, M. (1981) Man and fisheries on an Amazon frontier. In H.J. Dumont (ed.). Developments in Hydrobiology, v. 4. The Hague: W. Tunk Publishers. 137 p.
Soares, M.G.M., R.G. Almeida and W.T. Tunk (1986) The trophic status of the fish fauna in Lago Camaleao, a macrophyte dominated floodplain lake in the middle Amazon. Amazoniana 9(4):511-526.
Zaráte, M. et al. (1989) Evaluación de las pesquerias del embalse del Guajaro junto con algunos criterios de manejo. Trianea (Ast. Cient. Tecn., Inderena) 3:215-226.
Planquette, P., P. Keith and P.-Y. Le Bail (1996) Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 1. Collection du Patrimoine Naturel Volume 22, MNHN, Paris & INRA, Paris. 429 p.
Oyakawa, O.T. (2003) Erythrinidae (Trahiras). p. 238-240. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Giarrizzo, T., R.R. de Sena Oliveira, M.C. Andrade, A.P. Gonçalves, T.A.P. Barbosa, A.R. Martins, D.K. Marques, J.L.B. dos Santos, R. de P., da S. Frois, T.P.O. de Albuquerque, L.F.de A. Montag, M. Camargo and L.M. de Sousa (2015) Length-weight and length-length relationships for 135 fish species from the Xingu River (Amazon basin, Brazil). J. Appl. Ichthyol. 31:514-424. DOI: 10.1111/jai.12677
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