Giant Featherback
Chitala lopis (Bleeker, 1851)
Also calledBelida Lopis (ind) · Peixe-faca-gigante (por) · nožovec bornejský (ces) · ปลาสะตือ (tha) · ボルネオ・ナイフフィッシュ (jpn)
Chitala lopis, also known as the belida or giant featherback, is a species of freshwater fish, endemic to the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It inhabits lowland river mainstreams and tributaries with rocky and sunken wood bottoms, as well as forest-covered streams. It feeds on smaller fishes, insects and vertebrates, mostly at night. The species was declared to be extinct on 2020 and hasn't been updated since, but rediscovered at the type locality in 2023.
== References ==
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
Notes
The distribution of Chitala lopis is restricted to Java, Indonesia (Kottelat and Widjanarti 2005), which raises questions about the current taxonomic identity of other identified Chitala lopis outside its native distribution ranges. The species is declared extinct in Java (Ng 2020) as it was not recorded for the past 100 years. The individuals resembling Chitala borneensis were also recorded from Peninsular Malaysia in the Endau and Terengganu River (Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman, pers. comm.). The identity of Chitala spp. from Peninsular Malaysia needs further taxonomic clarification based on morphology and molecular works (Fig. 2).
Freshwater fishes (Actinopterygii) of Kenyir Reservoir, Peninsular Malaysia: Updated checklist, taxonomic concerns and alien species
discussion
Remarks. Kottelat & Widjanarti (2005) suggest that Chitala lopis is most likely restricted to Java and specimens that occurs in Peninsular Malaysia may be Chitala borneensis or Chitala sp. (undescribed). From our field observations, specimens from Lenggong displayed silvery body and a black spot at pectoral-fin base.
Provisional checklist of freshwater fish diversity and distribution in Perak, Malaysia, and some latest taxonomic concerns
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Chitala lopis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2402271.