Article © Heok Hee Ng, uploaded October 01, 2006.

A very grateful webmaster would like to say thanks again to Heok Hee Ng for providing this article at short notice, also of note is that this is our first article written in Singapore! It's with thanks that I hand over to Heok Hee.

Back in 2004, I wrote an article featuring the large predatory silurid, Wallago leerii. This month's article features another large predatory silurid with a fearsome grin, Belodontichthys dinema. That Belodontichthys is a predatory fish is immediately obvious from its countenance, which sports more wicked-looking, arrow-shaped teeth than the larger, chunkier Wallago. The fearsome grin aside, the other prominent feature of Belodontichthys is its very large and broad pectoral fin which it occasionally flaps when swimming. Unlike Wallago, Belodontichthys seems to be mostly head and little else. The silvery, compressed body is relatively much smaller, to the extent that the very large head and pectoral fins look somewhat mismatched on it.

Belodontichthys is found in the deeper parts of rivers and is known to feed on migrating shoals of cyprinids and at surface and midwater levels, occasionally jumping out of the water in pursuit of its prey. Like Wallago, the flesh is said to make good eating and is popular in Thailand, although it is said to die immediately after being taken from the water, with the flesh deteriorating quickly.

The large pectoral fins and the slender body become immediately obvious once you observe the manner in which Belodontichthys feeds. After stalking its prey, and sidling slowly up towards it, the catfish lunges upwards and strikes, opening its jaws to engulf its prey. Admittedly, this mode of feeding is observed only in captive specimens and it is very likely that in the wild, Belodontichthys is a more actively swimming predator.

Belodontichthys show up for sale every now and then, almost always as juveniles (both B. dinema and the very similar B. truncatus are exported for the aquarium trade). While they are generally peaceful towards tankmates that are too large to be eaten (this despite their battery of sharp teeth), they are best kept in a species tank, as they can be somewhat skittish. My experience with this species is that they will accept only live food. I was able to condition my Wallago leerii to take frozen food as the fish learned to associate the opening of the tank cover with being fed, but not so the Belodontichthys. With this catfish, it was live food or nothing as it would require some movement of the prey to catch its attention before it began to feed (simulating movement of the prey by waving frozen food around does not work due to the skittish nature of the fish). The other thing I noted was that Belodontichthys appears to be strictly piscivorous. While other large predatory silurids will readily consume anything that moves in the water (e.g. frogs, large shrimp), Belodontichthys will ignore these and consume only fish.

One last thing to note is to remember to plan for the eventual size of the fish (especially considering the fact that this is a fish that needs quite a bit of swimming room), should you decide to purchase one. I have regularly encountered Belodontichthys measuring 40 cm (15.7") SL or more in fish markets, and it is safe to assume that they are capable of reaching at least up to this size.

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	Belodontichthys dinema  (Bleeker, 1851)
Common Name
Type Locality	Bandjarmasin [Banjarmasin], Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia.
Synonym(s)	Belodontichthys macrochir, Wallago dinema
Pronunciation	Bee law dawn tick thees - dai neem ah
Etymology	From the Greek belos, meaning arrow, odontos, meaning tooth and ichthyos, meaning fish; in reference to the distinctive arrowhead-shaped teeth. The specific epithet comes from the Latin dis, meaning two and the Greek nema, meaning thread; in reference to the prominent maxillary barbels.
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Species Information
Size	1000mm or 39.4" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Distinguished from B. truncatus in having a longer pectoral fin, head and snout.
Sexing	Males are more slender and have strong serrations on the posterior edge of the pectoral spine (females lack these serrations).
Habitat Information
Distribution	Asia: Thailand to Indonesia. Pacific, Greater Sunda Island Rivers, Sumatra Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there) Pacific, Greater Sunda Island Rivers, Borneo Waters (click on these areas to find other species found there) Pacific, Malaysia Waters, Peninsular Malaysia Waters (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 2019.
pH	5.6 - 7.0
Temperature	22.0-27.0°C or 71.6-80.6°F (Show species within this range)
Other Parameters	Clean water needed. Sensitive to bad water conditions.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Obligate piscivores. Does not seem to take any food other than live fish, which they snap up with sudden upward lunges. User data.
Furniture	Provide large open areas as this is an actively-swimming fish. Some vegetation for it to hide in during the day will be ideal. They are good leapers, so a tight-fitting, heavy cover for the tank is necessary.
Compatibility	Best kept alone, as it will eat any other tankmates able to fit its mouth.
Breeding	Not reported.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië v. 2 (no. 2), pp 202.
Registered Keepers	There are 4 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 2 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 5 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for B. dinema
	Look up B. dinema on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up B. dinema on Fishbase
	Look up B. dinema on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up B. dinema on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.7.147.760
Last Update	2020 Sep 23 03:08 (species record created: 2006 Oct 01 11:22)

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