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Its contrasting coloration - velvet black body and bright red caudal fin -
makestheRed-TailedBlackShark lookmore likeacoral fishthana freshwater
species.These splendidcolorshavealsomade theRed-TailedBlackSharkan
extremely popular aquarium fish, always available at a low price in the
aquarium trade.Butonlyavery fewaquaristsknow that theRed-TailedBlack
Sharkhasbeenasgoodasextinct fordecades in itsnatural range.
TheRed-TailedBlackShark
Epalzeorhynchosbicolor
bySarahNieten
EndangeredSpecies
Epalzeorhynchusbicolor,
theRed-TailedBlackShark.
Photo:FrankSchäfer
heRed-TailedBlackSharkwasdiscovered
in1921byMalcolmS
MITH
,anddescribed
underthename
Labeobicolor
byHughM.S
MITH
in1931.Thetypelocalityisasmallaffluentofthe
Menam Chao Phya (nowadays the Chao
Phraya) near Paknampo in Central Thailand,
where the fishwas caught ina fish trap.H.M.
S
MITH
wroteofhisnewspecies:
”This fish isnotuncommon inBorapetSwamp,
Central Siam, and in the streams leading
therefrom.It is reported tobeverycommonat
times at Hangkraben, above Ayuthia, and
occurs also in the Menam Chao Phya as far
south as Bangkok. The maximum length
appears tobeabout 12 cm. In thePaknampo
region the fish is calledpla song kruang (full-
dressfish).Thenearlyuniformrichvelvetyblack
of the body andmost of the fins is strikingly
relievedbythebrightorangecolorofthecaudal
andpectoral fins,making thisoneof themost
beautiful of the many attractively colored
cyprinoidfishesofSiam.”
It wasn't until the 1950s that this unusually
attractive fish found itsway into theaquarium.
The initial euphoriaover thenew import soon
disappeared, however, as the Red-TailedBlack
Shark proved to be antisocial in its behavior.
Red-TailedBlackSharkscanberealtyrantsinthe
aquarium,butaresometimesalsoexceptionally
peaceful. Even though the Red-Tailed Black
Shark has thus traditionally been viewed
ambivalently by enthusiastic aquarists, it has
alwaysbeenanexceptionalbest-becauseof its
attractivecoloration.
By 1927 a dam had been constructed at the
Bung Boraphet, (i.e. the Borapet Swamp), in
ordertoholdbackthewatertoforma lakeand
be able to catch morefishes (C
HAICHANA
&
C
HOOWAEW
, 2013). A further dam was con-
structed in1970,and in1993 theheightof this
was increased to 24m (S
RIWONGSITANON
et al.,
2007).PreciselywhentheRed-TailedBlackShark
disappeared from the region hasn't been
documented, but the trade ist ist has relied
exclusively on captive-bred fishes for many
decades. Not until recently was a specimen
caught again in the lower Mae Klong
(K
ULABTONG
et al,2014),but it remainsunclear
whethertherearestillanywildpopulationsof
theRed-TailedBlackSharks inexistence,and it
is regardedasacriticallyendangeredspecies.
Atpresenttheunrestrictedtrade inRed-Tailed
Black Sharks is themost effective and at the
same time the only instrument available to
preventthespecies fromextinction.
T
Literatur
:
Chaichana,R.&S.Choowaew (2013):
Ecological importanceandbiological
resource conservationof Boraphetmarsh,
Thailand.ScienceAsia39:105-110
Kulabtong,S.,Suksri,S.,Nonpayom,C.&Y.
Soonthornkit (2014):Rediscoveryof the
criticallyendangered cyprinid fish
Epalzeorhynchosbicolor (Smith,1931) from
WestThailand (CypriniformesCyprindae).
Biodiversity Journal 5 (2):371.373
Sriwongsitanaon,N.,Surakit,K.,Hawkins,P.R.
&N.Chandrasena (2007):DecisionSupport
Tools forWater ResourceManagement:A
CaseStudyof BungBoraphetWetland,
Thailand. Journal ofDevelopments in
SustainableAgriculture2:17-26
Smith,H.M. (1931):Descriptionsof new
generaand speciesof Siamese fishes.
Proceedingsof theUnitedStatesNational
Museumv.79 (no.2873):1-48,Pl.1.
