"African shovelnose"

muridae · Post by **muridae** » 26 Mar 2004, 18:53

My LFS has a tank full of these fish, and I was really curious about them. I didn't really get a good enough look/don't remember their features well enough to compare them to pics in the cat-e-log, and a search of the common name on Google brings up one link, to the Zang Exotic Fish catalog, with a fish called Bagrus ubangensis. B. ubangensis is not in the cat-e-log either, and these fish weren't nearly that expensive -- in fact they were downright inexpensive, ten times less than the fish on Zang.

I'd like to pick one or two up, but don't want to get a mystery fish that turns into a 4' tankbuster in a year or two...

So anyway, my question is, is B. ubangensis a synonym for any other fish that might appear in the cat-e-log? Is the common name African Shovelnose routinely applied to any other fish in the aquarium trade?

Will probably go back to the LFS tonight and see if I can get some pictures in order to properly ID the fish.

Post by **Silurus** » 26 Mar 2004, 19:27

The name really applies to only species of Bagrus, although there is an off-chance that Clarotes or Chrysichthys might be referred to.

pturley · Post by **pturley** » 26 Mar 2004, 21:44

THIS is the most common recipient of the common name "African Shovelnose" that I know of.

There are a couple of different species. Some get a bit bigger (14") but still remain a manageable size.

Is this the fish you saw?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 27 Mar 2004, 08:50

Phyllonemus typus perhaps?
these really do look like shovelnoses, but they are and stay tiny.

were the fish you saw brickred?

muridae · Post by **muridae** » 27 Mar 2004, 13:30

That's very close to the fish, but the pattern is a bit off. I'm thinking Anaspidoglanis macrostoma, dwarf giraffe catfish, is the closest to the fish in question.

These pictures are not going to win any awards for clarity, that's for sure, but maybe they'll be enough to positively id the fish.

http://www.muridae.org/fish/cats/DSCF1170.jpg
http://www.muridae.org/fish/cats/DSCF1174.jpg[/url]

Post by **Silurus** » 27 Mar 2004, 20:33

I'm leaning towards A. macrostoma, but it's not easy to tell Anaspidoglanis apart from Parauchenoglanis at glance (see this post for how to distinguish the two).

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 28 Mar 2004, 15:31

Anyway, no worries they'll bust your tank.
in general, these beasties reach 7-9" wich makes them fairly big, but managable in a roomy hometank.

they ARE however quite territorial; unless you get lucky and end up with a pair, you're going to see lots of harassment and chasing.
I had three Parauchenoglanis panterinus at one time, and had to remove the third; a pair remained.

on occasions the male would chase and nip at the female; this tank was/is my 2 meter showtank, and those cats were 8" or so. plenty wood etc.

We -me and my cousin- found out that giraffenoses are also like that. he has a 720 liter tank (almost 1,5x as big as mine wich is 500 liters) but it was way too small to keep three juvie Auchenoglanis. The biggest was about 1 foot, the other two about 4: and 5" but they fought all the time.....