Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded April 01, 2003.

Chris Ralph returns from writing his first book on aquarium pufferfish to what is really his primary aquatic love at heart : big catfish. Many big catfish are unsuitable aquarium inhabitants, but as Chris explains, this one is big enough to classed a true tank buster, but small enough to be housed by a responsible aquarist.

The Sailfin Pim or Leiarius pictus is another of my favourite large catfish, which I currently have the pleasure to keep. At the moment I have one of these catfish housed within my 12' x 3' x 4' tropical pond. It has to be said that this particular catfish is a real character fish. I have had this catfish for almost four years now, after I was asked by my good friend Giles Barlow to rescue this fish from one of his customers' tanks. When I collected this fish it was approximately 16" long, it is now approximately 28" long, so as you can appreciate this is not a catfish for your average sized aquarium.

This catfish is sometimes confused with Perrunichthys perruno (Reticulated pimelodid) and Leiarius marmoratus (Marble antenna catfish). The overall body colour of L. pictus is dark brown with darker spots, with a lighter underside colouration. More noticeable in juvenile specimens this catfish has two pale bands, the first extends from the base of the dorsal fine spine toward the ventral fin, and then laterally along the body to the base of the caudal; the second thinner band lies parallel to the first originating from the base of the third to sixth soft dorsal fin rays. Large round spots can be seen in the dorsal, adipose and caudal fins, whilst the anal and ventral fins have much smaller spots. The barbels have a ringed pattern to them alternating light and dark colouration.

With regard to the anatomical characteristics of L. pictus the head is described as being narrow and flattish above. The upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw. The maxillary barbels in adult specimens extend just beyond the dorsal fin; the inner mandibular barbels extend to the base of the pectoral fin whilst the outer mandibular barbels extend to the middle of the pectoral fin. In juvenile specimens the maxillary barbels can be seen to extend well beyond the tips of the caudal fin. This catfish has a large sail-like dorsal fin with 9 - 10 soft rays hence the common name of Sailfin Pim. The caudal fin is described as being deeply forked.

As mentioned above there are a number of differences between juvenile and adult fish, such as the fact that the barbells shorten in ratio to body size in adults, and the colour is less intense in adult fish. The lobes of the caudal fin are more rounded in young specimens whilst they are more pointed in adult fish. These catfish are real character fish, but can be noticeable territorial especially towards other pimelodids. My own catfish has a very understanding relationship with a large Oscar: if the Oscar gets in the way at feeding time, the pim will take the Oscar in its mouth and swim around the pond a couple of times before depositing the disorientated fish in one of the corners! A fascinating catfish to observe and an amazing site to see the barbels protruding from the surface of the water at feeding time. I am able to feed this fish by hand just as long as one of the larger doradids does not spook the fish at the same time. It is documented that Leiarius pictus suffer from claustrophobia caused by the fact that all too often these catfish are kept in accommodation where their maxillary barbels touch the front and back of the aquarium, thus stimulating both barbels at the same time causing the catfish to become confused! In this circumstance the report continues that these catfish will try to exit the aquarium, and it is therefore recommended that tight fitting covers be added to the aquarium. This does not appear to be a problem in my uncovered tropical pond!

Literature:
Baensch Aquarium Atlas Volume 2
Catfish Association Great Britain Volume 1.

Copyright information for the images used in this article can be found on the species' full Cat-eLog page.

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	Leiarius pictus  (Müller & Troschel, 1849)
Common Names	Sailfin Marbled Catfish Painted Catfish, Saddle Catfish, Sailfin Pim, Segelantennenwels (Germany)
Type Locality	No locality.
Synonym(s)	Bagrus pictus, Sciades pictus
Pronunciation	pick tuss
Etymology	The genus name is derived from Leios, meaning smooth and Arius which is a Greek for "dealing with Mars, warlike, belliose". It's the name of another catfish genus, so the combination is "smooth Arius". This specific epithet literally means painted (pictus=painted) and refers to the spots of the adult of the species.
Articles
Species Information
Size	600mm or 23.6" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	This catfish is sometimes confused with Leiarius longibarbis (formerly known as L. marmoratus). The overall body colour of L. pictus is dark brown with darker spots, with a lighter underside colouration. More noticeable in juvenile specimens this catfish has two pale bands, the first extends from the base of the dorsal fine spine toward the ventral fin, and then laterally along the body to the base of the caudal; the second thinner band lies parallel to the first originating from the base of the third to sixth soft dorsal fin rays.
Sexing	See the images above of the male and female genital areas. Observation of cpative adult fishes points towards females tending to be more heavily built and robust than the males, which tend to be slender.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Amazon and Orinoco River basins. Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there) Guyana Waters, Coastal Rivers of Guyanas, Essequibo (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Least Concern , range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2020.
pH	6.2 - 7.6
Temperature	22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show species within this range)
Other Parameters	Up to 18°dGH
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Carnivore feeding on a very mixed and varied diet including earthworms, whole prawns, mussels, floating sticks/pellets and catfish pellets. In their natural environment they would feed upon other fish. User data.
Furniture	Large, spacious tank with open space for night time cruising. A large shady bogwood root or pipe that the catfish can retreat to during the day is also required. Ensure the heater is in the open and not in a place where the catfish may try and hide.
Compatibility	Ideally suited to life with other large fish. These catfish are predatory and will eat smaller fish if hungry.
Suggested Tankmates	Other large catfish such as Pseudodoras, Oxydoras, Pterodoras and Megalodoras, Oscars and larger characins.
Breeding	There are no known aquarium spawnings of this catfish. This is most likely due to the size that these fish can attain and hence the subsequent size of aquarium in which to spawn them.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Horae Ichthyologicae No. 3, pp 8.
Registered Keepers	There are 21 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There is but a single wish to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 9 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for L. pictus
	Look up L. pictus on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up L. pictus on Fishbase
	Look up L. pictus on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up L. pictus on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.15.92.290
Last Update	2020 Sep 19 01:40 (species record created: 2003 Apr 01 11:22)

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