Pterygoplichthys pardalis ( Castelnau, 1855 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 462

Pterygoplichthys pardalis ( Castelnau, 1855) [I]—Amazon sailfin catfish; None

Taxonomy. Original description: Hypostomus pardalis Castelnau, 1855: 42 , pl. 20, fig. 3 [Amazon River, Brazil; holotype (unique): MNHN A-9574].— Israel synonyms: None.—Revisions: Isbrücker (1980: 42).—Illustration: Castelnau (1855: pl. 20, fig. 3).

Status in Israel. First record from Israel by Golani & Snovsky (2013).—Israel material: HUJ.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: Several specimens were collected in Nahal Amal and Lake Kinneret.—Distribution in River Basin: 2-Dead Sea Basin, 3-Kinneret Basin.—General distribution: South America: Madeira River basin ( Bolivia and Brazil). Introduced in Türkiye, southeast Asia, Mexico, and Guatemala; established in Florida ( U.S.A.) and elsewhere.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species is frequent and abundant in lentic environments, including anthropized ones. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Valuable for the aquarium trade.

Reasons of introduction. Ornamental fish industry.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).

Remarks: Probably both reports are based on hybrids of Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus X Pterygoplichthys pardalis (see Godwin et al. 2016).