Japanese torrent catfish
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The male akaza catfish guards the cluster of eggs.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Japanese torrent catfish
- Scientific name
- Liobagrus reinii
- Japanese name
- アカザ
- Group
- Freshwater animals
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Amblycipitidae
- Genus
- Liobagrus
Where the name “Japanese torrent catfish” comes from
It has a local name, Tetefuri, because its spines cause pain when they prick.
福岡県A small catfish found in Akita, in Honshu from Miyagi southward, and in Shikoku and Kyushu.
How the Japanese torrent catfish lives
It swims out at night. It mainly eats aquatic insects. During the day, it hides in gaps between stones or hollows near the riverbank. During the breeding season, muscles bulge from the top of the male’s head toward its dorsal fin.
大阪府立環境農林水産総合研究所国立環境研究所Basic data
- Range
- Akita, Honshu south from Miyagi, Shikoku, and Kyushu
- Conservation status in Japan
- Vulnerable (VU)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020
Where the Japanese torrent catfish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — アカザChecked: 2026-11-04
- 大阪府立環境農林水産総合研究所 — アカザChecked: 2026-11-07
- 国立環境研究所 — アカザChecked: 2026-11-07
- 福岡県 — アカザChecked: 2026-11-07
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Red List 2020Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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