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Barthem, R. B., M. C. L. B Ribeiro and M. Petrere (1991). Life strategies of some long-distance migratory catfish in relation to hydroelectric dams in the Amazon Basin. Biological Conservation. 55:339-345.

Results of sampling from 1982 to 1989 indicated that the long-distance migratory catfish Brachyplatystoma filamentosum, B. flavicans, B. vaillantii, Goslinia platynema, and Lithodoras dorsalis spawn in the headstreams of the Amazon River and its tributaries and that the estuary of the Amazon is the main nursery ground utilized by their alevins. Hydroelectric dams are a potential threat to these fish, interrupting the downstream movement of catfish eggs or young (provided they do spawn in the upper tributaries) or obstructing the upstream migrations that annually restore catfish stocks upriver. The synergistic effects of flood control over the entire basin may also harm the species, since their hydrological requirements are drastically modified. The only hope for preserving migratory catfish stocks above the dams will be for them to spawn upstream from the reservoirs if their pre-recruits manage to survive in floodplains outside the estuary. Otherwise, artificial measures such as fish ladders or side channels would have to be employed. Stocking could also be tried, producing the alevins in fish culture stations, or by transporting mature individuals when they stop below the barrage during their upstream migrations.