Wallago attu is a species of catfish in the family Siluridae, or "sheatfishes". The fish is commonly known by its genus name, wallago

Wallago

Wallago is a genus of catfishes of the family Siluridae, or "sheatfishes". They are found in rivers throughout southern Asia...

. Found in large rivers and lakes, it can reach 2.4 m (8 feet) total length. This south Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n fish is found from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 to Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, and is also reported from Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

The name

In Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and Malaysia, the wallago is known as "Ikan Tapah," and this name is the origin of the name of a Malaysian town, Tapah

Tapah

Tapah is the administrative town of the district Batang Padang, Perak, Malaysia .The name "Tapah" is said to be originated from the name of a fresh water fish, "Ikan Tapah"...

. It is also known as Wallagonia attu, Boal Fish etc. In Bengal and Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, it is known as Boal and Borali,Attu walah, in Manipur it is commonly known by its local name "Sareng" or Valah in Malayalam respectively.

Aggressiveness

Its common to find huge frogs and fishes inside its stomach, when cut for cooking. It has been claimed that in some areas of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 the natives fear the species because of its believed habit of eating small ducks, dogs, and small children. It is thought the Tapah became this aggressive due to natives laying to rest their dead in the water. The catfish would then see this as a ready supply of food.

Spawning

Just like salmon this fish do their annual upstream journey to lay their eggs during the monsoon season before returning to the deeper part of the river for the rest of the year. This is the time they fall prey to the local fishermen who set a special fish net across river to trap the homecoming school.
It was a common story amongst local Iban native of Sarawak where they speared several fishes weighing more than 50 kg each.

Curse

Following to some folklore in Malaysia, The decendent of person called Tok Kaduk is cannot eat and touch the fish because the lagends says long time ago Tok Kaduk caught this Tapah and when he cut open it's stomach, there are gold inside the fish stomach so Tok Kaduk take the gold and stitch back the fish and release it back in to the river. From that time if the decendent came in touch with the fish their skin will become red and itching until they go to Lambo near Bota in middle District of Perak

Perak

Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...

, Malaysia to find the medicine. The medicine is remaining gold from the fish that been kept to make the medicine for this disease. Some says the gold need to be soaked inside water and need to drink by the patient and wash the area that itching and red.