Pangasius sanitwongsei

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	SILURIFORMES	PANGASIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Pangasius sanitwongsei

Species Authority:

Smith, 1931

Common Name/s:

English

–

Giant Pangasius, Pangasid-catfish, Paroon Shark, Pla Thepa

Synonym/s:

Pangasius beani Smith, 1931

Pangasius sanitwangsei Smith, 1931

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered A2acd ver 3.1

Year Published:

2009

Assessor/s:

Jenkins, A., Kullander, F.F. & Tan, H.H.

Reviewer/s:

Collen, B., Darwall, W., Ram, M. & Smith, K. (SRLI Freshwater Fish Evaluation Workshop)

Contributor/s:

Justification:
There are ongoing threats to P. sanitwongsei, including harvesting, and alteration of the river for dams and increased shipping.

Assessed as Critically Endangered due to an estimated population decline of more than 99% over three generations, even using the most optimistic values for generation time and population size (assuming a constant exponential rate). This rate has been inferred for the whole population given that the same threats exist throughout the range of P. sanitwongsei.

History:

1996	–	Data Deficient
1994	–	Rare (Groombridge 1994)
1990	–	Rare (IUCN 1990)
1988	–	Rare (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1986	–	Rare (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The species is known from the Chao Phraya and Mekong basins in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Countries:	Native: Cambodia; China (Yunnan); Lao People's Democratic Republic; Thailand; Viet Nam
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Two sub-populations may be separated by the Khone Falls, over which P. sanitwongsei does not appear to migrate (Poulsen 2001). Local fishermen report declines in sightings/catch of P. sanitwongsei; one interviewee said that P. sanitwongsei had disappeared from his catch, while another (ex-chair of the Giant Catfish Fishermens Club) said that 'fifteen years ago 100 P. sanitwongsei were caught per year…five years ago about 5-20 fish were caught per year…recently the catch has declined further and the fish has disappeared' (Meynell 2003). Generation time is not known, but that of the closely related Pangasianodon gigas is estimated at 10-15 years.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

Two sub-populations may be separated by the Khone Falls, over which P. sanitwongsei does not appear to migrate (Poulsen 2001).

Local fishermen report declines in sightings/catch of P. sanitwongsei; one interviewee said that P. sanitwongsei had disappeared from his catch, while another (ex-chair of the Giant Catfish Fishermens Club) said that 'fifteen years ago 100 P. sanitwongsei were caught per year…five years ago about 5-20 fish were caught per year…recently the catch has declined further and the fish has disappeared' (Meynell 2003).

Generation time is not known, but that of the closely related Pangasianodon gigas is estimated at 10-15 years.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	P. sanitwongsei is a benthopelagic, potamodromous species which inhabits large rivers surrounded by rainforest. P. sanitwongsei uses deep pools as refuges in the dry season.
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Overfishing for food and to a lesser extent the aquarium trade, has depleted the natural population of P. sanitwongsei (Wang 1998). This species is likely to have been affected by the destruction of rapids and reefs as part of the Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project, and by the construction of dams. Projects such as these affect the natural flood/drought cycles throughout the river, and therefore the migratory behaviour of fish such as P. sanitwongsei.

Major Threat(s):

Overfishing for food and to a lesser extent the aquarium trade, has depleted the natural population of P. sanitwongsei (Wang 1998).

This species is likely to have been affected by the destruction of rapids and reefs as part of the Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement Project, and by the construction of dams. Projects such as these affect the natural flood/drought cycles throughout the river, and therefore the migratory behaviour of fish such as P. sanitwongsei.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	In 1989 P. sanitwongsei was listed as a Class II protected species by the provincial government of Yunnan, China.

Conservation Actions:

In 1989 P. sanitwongsei was listed as a Class II protected species by the provincial government of Yunnan, China.

Citation:	Jenkins, A., Kullander, F.F. & Tan, H.H. 2009. Pangasius sanitwongsei. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2013.
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