Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded October 01, 2000.

Very often an aquarist's first impression of their first catfish is entirely missed. Once released from the plastic bag that it was brought home in, the fishes first act is to dive for the darkest, most inaccessible area of the aquarium. South America's bumblebee catfish certainly fits this description but it also continues this game of hide and seek throughout its captive life.

Put half a dozen of these fish in a well decorated aquarium and you will not see them for months. Personally I find this quite rewarding as it makes a "sighting" more of an event. In addition, because you only see the fish from time to time, you markedly notice how much it has grown, coloured-up or filled-out in a way that you wouldn't if you saw the fish all the time.

Although this fish can be seen during the day from time time time but it is usually travelling at high speed towards either food or cover. One of the more endearing traits of these fish is that they are quite as at home in dense vegetation as they are under a piece of rock or driftwood. Given such plant growth the fish will make darting runs from this refuge to wherever there is food and back again.

Their care is straightforward. The fish are not fussy eaters and will tend to pick off small pieces of food others leave behind. This form of feeding shouldn't be relied on (especially if there are other nocturnal feeders present) and feeding the tank a couple of hours after "lights out" ensures food for all.

The South American bumblebee catfish is so called because of its yellowish and black banding but to call it simply the bumblebee catfish would be misleading as the larger Asian Bagrid Pseudomystus siamensis is commonly referred to as THE bumblebee catfish. As a quirk of how the export markets change over the years you are now much more likely to encounter the South American for sale.

A word of warning, although all catfish of the genus Microglanis are relatively small and good community fish, they are very similar to young giant bumblebee catfish (Pseudopimelodus spp. and the like). These fish grow quite large but will attempt to eat anything they can in the process. They are ambush predators and their appetite is legendary. The best way to tell these fish apart is to look at the mouths; the giants have huge mouths which takes up virtually their entire head, whereas Microglanis have quite a large mouth but with a much smaller gape. Microglanis also have larger eyes.

As an interesting footnote, I have the following collection information from Shane who collected this fish in the wild:

Collecting location: Venezuela, Estado Miranda, Rio Merecure, Rio Tuy Drainage. Collected from the Rio Merecure near the bridge that crosses the river on the road between Caucaqua and Higuerote. Water was very clear and flowed at a moderate to strong pace. Substrate was exposed bedrock and fist-sized stones. No aquatic vegetation present. Microglanis were collected in the riffles and along the banks among the root systems and overhanging terrestrial vegetation. Water chemistry: pH 7.2, 60 ppm GH, 76-80F (warmer in the shallows). Also collected were: one species of pike cichlid, Acara sp. (Blue Acara), Hypostomus sp. fry, various tetras (mainly Astynax bimaculatus), Hoplias tetras, and Characidium darter-tetras.

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	Microglanis aff. iheringi
Common Names	South American Bumblebee Catfish Bambi Cat (Peru), Kleiner Marmor-Antennenwels, Kleiner Harlekinwels (Germany)
Pronunciation	aye herr ing ee
Etymology	Micro - small, glanis - catfish - in reference to the rather small forms of catfish that this genus contains.
Articles	- Shane's World Reproduction Reproduction in Microglanis
Species Information
Size	70mm or 2.8" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	The genus Microglanis was described by Eigenmann (1912) to include small pimelodids with the head as wide as long, the skull covered by skin only; the occipital crest small; frontal fontanel not extending much if any behind the eye, and a minute occipital fontanel sometimes present; eye without a free orbital margin; dorsal and pectoral spines well developed; and premaxillary patches of teeth without backward projecting angles. The South American bumblebee catfish is so called because of its yellowish and black banding but to call it simply the bumblebee catfish would be misleading as the larger Asian Bagrid Pseudomystus siamensis is commonly referred to as THE bumblebee catfish. As a quirk of how the export markets change over the years you are now much more likely to encounter the South American for sale. M. aff. iheringi have a yellow or yellow-pink base color with a U-or V-shaped solid dark black or brown saddle beneath the dorsal fin. The base color may be clean (i.e., almost a pure color, not mottled or streaked) or streaked/mottled with a brown wood-grain marking over the base color. Some types also have a small pale spot in the center of the black/brown subdorsal saddle. The caudal fin varies from emarginate to slightly forked, with the lower lobe of the caudal fin being slightly larger and with more soft rays than the upper lobe. Coloration on the tail is highly variable, ranging from a solid black/brown vertical band to just two small broken dark bands on the separated upper and lower caudal fin lobes.
General Remarks	Real M. iheringi from the Turmero basin in Venezuela are essentially non-existent in the aquarium hobby. To our knowledge, all fish sold as M. iheringi in the hobby are M. aff. iheringi, collected along the Orinoco basin, mostly in Eastern Colombia, rather than from Northern Venezuela. The Orinoco fish represent at least three different species of Microglanis, all similar to M. iheringi in color pattern but each distinct in its own way. These species vary in size from 5cm to over 7cm maximum SL.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Orinoco river basin, including areas in Venezuela and Columbia. Orinoco (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco, Lower Orinoco, Caura (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco, Middle Orinoco, Meta (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco, Middle Orinoco, Tomo (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco, Middle Orinoco, Meta, Ocoa (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco, Middle Orinoco, Meta, Metica, Guayuriba (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Not Evaluated
pH	6.0 - 7.5
Temperature	22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show species within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Omnivorous. This fish is not a fussy eater. Brineshrimp appears to be a special favourite. User data.
Furniture	Dense leafy vegetation such as provided by large clumps of Java fern or Amazon swords. Narrow cracks or holes in between rocks or wood are also used.
Breeding	Egg scattering without any parental care. See Shane's World article.
Breeding Reports	There are 4 breeding reports, read them all here.
Further Information
Reference	.
Registered Keepers	There are 189 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 11 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 40 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
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	Search for M. aff. iheringi
	Look up M. aff. iheringi on AquaticRepublic.com
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.31.106.303
Last Update	2023 Jan 30 10:12 (species record created: 2000 Oct 01 11:22)

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