Epalzeorhynchos bicolor

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	ACTINOPTERYGII	CYPRINIFORMES	CYPRINIDAE

Scientific Name:

Epalzeorhynchos bicolor

Species Authority:

(Smith, 1931)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Redtailed Black Shark, Red-tailed Labeo, Red Tailed Shark, Redtail Shark, Redtail Sharkminnow

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Extinct in the Wild ver 2.3
Year Assessed:	1996
Annotations:	Needs updating
Assessor/s	Kottelat, M.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species was endemic to Thailand, formerly inhabiting the Chao Phrya basin.
Countries:	Regionally extinct: Thailand

Population [top]

Population:	It is not clear whether Epalzeorhynchos bicolor still exists in the wild, but tens of thousands are exported annually from Thailand, all now captive bred (Kottelat and Whitten 1996).

Population:

It is not clear whether Epalzeorhynchos bicolor still exists in the wild, but tens of thousands are exported annually from Thailand, all now captive bred (Kottelat and Whitten 1996).

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The redtail sharkminnow is a demersal, tropical freshwater fish species. There is no published information on specific habitat. However, a similar species in the Mekong basin (E. munensis) lives in rocky substrate in relatively deep water (M. Kottelat, pers. comm.).
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The reasons for the decline in the wild population of E. bicolor are not known. The aquarium fish trade has been accused of driving species to extinction because of very selective overfishing, but there is no documented evidence for this (Kottelat and Whitten 1996). Habitat modification may be the more likely cause of population declines in this case (M. Kottelat, pers. comm.). In the 1970s, many dams were constructed in Thailand and these probably severely impacted several large basins in the region. Large swamp areas have also been drained.

Major Threat(s):

The reasons for the decline in the wild population of E. bicolor are not known. The aquarium fish trade has been accused of driving species to extinction because of very selective overfishing, but there is no documented evidence for this (Kottelat and Whitten 1996). Habitat modification may be the more likely cause of population declines in this case (M. Kottelat, pers. comm.). In the 1970s, many dams were constructed in Thailand and these probably severely impacted several large basins in the region. Large swamp areas have also been drained.

Citation:	Kottelat, M. 1996. Epalzeorhynchos bicolor. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 05 June 2011.
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