Hemibagrus

Hemibagrus is a genus of catfishes (order Siluriformes) of the family Bagridae. The genus Hemibagrus is known from Southeast Asia, India, and southern China. Members of this genus are found ubiquitously in river drainages east of the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin and south of the Yangtze basin, and reach their greatest diversity in Sundaland. This genus consists of large-sized catfishes. H. wyckioides is the largest Bagrid catfish in central Indochina and may reach 80 kilograms. It includes species with depressed (flattened) heads, rugose (ridged or wrinkled) head shields not covered by skin, and moderately long adipose fins. In Southeast Asia, Hemibagrus species are an important source of animal protein. The extinct species, H. major, is a fossil species from a Miocene lake fauna from what is now Ban Nong Pia, Phetchabun Province of Thailand.