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''Pao palembangensis''Kottelat, M. (2013)
The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries.
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. 27: 1–663.'' (formerly ''Tetraodon palembangensis''), is a species of
Living in alkalescent, warm (24–28°), and slow-flowing rivers, ''Pao palembangensis'' is a distinct fish. It grows to a length of SL, with both sexes having a similar body size, but the male having a much larger rear hump. It is the largest member of its genus, and the third-largest
The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries.
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. 27: 1–663.'' (formerly ''Tetraodon palembangensis''), is a species of
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
pufferfish
Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...
native to Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. Its commonly called the humpback puffer or dragon puffer. It is bred for aquaria as an ornamental fish because of its beautiful skin colouration and pattern.
Description
Living in alkalescent, warm (24–28°), and slow-flowing rivers, ''Pao palembangensis'' is a distinct fish. It grows to a length of SL, with both sexes having a similar body size, but the male having a much larger rear hump. It is the largest member of its genus, and the third-largest freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
pufferfish, only being outsized by the Fahaka and Mbu puffer
The Mbu pufferfish, also known as Mbuna pufferfish, giant pufferfish, or giant freshwater pufferfish (''Tetraodon mbu''), is a carnivorous freshwater pufferfish originating from the middle and lower sections of the Congo river in Africa, as wel ...
fish puffers. It is chocolate-brown, with a pale mottled underbelly and an elongated head. The large eyes of this fish are a distinct orange. As a pufferfish its body contains the neurotoxin
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature ner ...
tetrodotoxin (TTX), and it can swell up to three times its normal size as a defence mechanism when threatened. Having a small genome size (362Mb), a chromosome-scale genome assembly of ''P. palembangensis'' was sequenced as part of the Fish10K subproject of the Earth BioGenome Project
The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is an initiative that aims to sequence and catalog the genomes of all of Earth's currently described eukaryotic species over a period of ten years. The initiative would produce an open DNA database of biological i ...
.
Behaviour
It was previously thought to be an ambush predator but it is now believed that is not the case. ''P. palembangensis'' is an active hunter that pursues sleeping aquatic prey. It is a nocturnal fish as evidence by its large eyes, increased nightly activity, and daytime sleep..References