Diversity of Pangasiid Catfishes From Sumatra

One of the utmost importance catfish group for fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia is pangasiids. The main constrain to cultivate wild species and optimize the production of cultured species was due to the poorly documented of the genetic resources. In the current study, it presents the diversity of pangasiids catfishes from Sumatra. Nine hundreds and ninety nine specimens formed the core of the material examined during this study. On each specimen, 35 point to point measurement, covering the possible variation of the body conformation were taken using dial calipers. Data were subjected to principal component analysis. Data analysis consisted in characterizing groups from scatter plots between pairs of structuring characters for subsequent use in generic identifycation keys. Four genera with seven species exist in four main rivers, Indragiri; Batang Hari; Musi; Way Rarem, in Sumatra. They are Helicophagus typus, H. Waandersii, Pteropangasius micronemus, Pangasius polyuranodon, P kunyit, P. djamba,l and P. nasutus. The diagnosis of the species, identification key, distribution and ecology were given.