What is my catfish ?

madpiano · Post by **madpiano** » 08 Oct 2006, 22:37

Hello

I went to the fish shop and bought 2 catfish which bury themselves in the gravel. They are chocolate brown (mottled) with caramel stripes on the tail and have long whiskers (about half the length of the body). The petshop said they will grow to about 5cm. I have no idea what they are. Can anyone help ?

And more importantly, what can I feed them ???? They seem to spend all their time buried (we only see the odd tail or eyes poking out, and ocassionally they scare the cories when they suddenly move). I am worried they are slowly starving to death in there.....

paulf · Post by **paulf** » 08 Oct 2006, 22:56

What did the LFS have them for sale as?

madpiano · Post by **madpiano** » 08 Oct 2006, 23:01

They gave it a long complicated latin name, which I have forgotten. It's not my local petshop, so I don't go there very often (it's about 1 hr drive through London traffic....)

Thats why I wanted to find out, before they starve

Post by **Silurus** » 09 Oct 2006, 02:18

?

Post by **Marc van Arc** » 09 Oct 2006, 13:14

You've made me very curious for I can't think right now of any catfish matching your description. There are a few catfishes that bury themselves, but the long whiskers and the stripes on the tail puzzle me.
About food: don't worry. Feed when the lights are out and your new cats will certainly eat.
About the name: can't you phone that shop and ask the name of those fish?

madpiano · Post by **madpiano** » 09 Oct 2006, 14:08

It looks most like a fish from the Akysidae family - but none of the pictures in the eLog match the ones I have.

Is there any similar looking catfish ? And even if it is one of tAkysidae, how do you feed them, as they seem to be living under the sand all the time, they never come up for feeding....

Cheers
Mad

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 09 Oct 2006, 14:14

I'd wait until you have properly identified the fish - Marc's suggestion of phoning the shop to ask again and making proper note of the latin name - although it would of course be typical that the shop hasn't got the right name anyways

There's two reasons why a fish would live under sand - it's either an ambush predator (waithing for a suitable prey to get close enough and then gulp it down) or as a camouflage method for "anti-predation" (if you can't be seen, you're not going to end up eaten, in theory). Without knowing which species it is, it's impossible to say which reason it has to hide.

If it's the former, they may only take certain types of live-food, if it's the latter, they are most likely coming out at night when there's no light and no noise/disturbance - and Marc's original suggestion of feeding at night may help here.

--
Mats

grokefish · Post by **grokefish** » 09 Oct 2006, 14:57

Are the stripes vertical or horizontal?

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 09 Oct 2006, 16:36

Maybe it's Anadoras gryphus.

these do bury themselves up to the eyes, and they have long whiskers (longer than those of Dianema), also they have a vague pattern in the tail.

does your fish have a row of small scutes (plates) with small thorns on the sides?

another important question: what's the size? Akysis are tiny (2"/5cm max), but these Doradids are about 4-5".

very similar looking (and mottled/striped as well) is a more common species: Amblydoras hancocki
this catfish is also known to bury itself into the sand, but only does so when there are no hiding places available. when it's buried only the eyes, the top of the skull, dorsal spine and tailfin stick out, usually.

another dead giveaway: if you have Doradids; they make sounds! and when handling them they squeeze your finger! so if you have been squeezed, croacked at (or buzzed at) and stung (they're pretty spiny as fish go); it's a Doradid catfish.

they do look a wee bit -vaguely- like overgrown Akysis with bigger eyes and longer whiskers. overal shape is similar.

madpiano · Post by **madpiano** » 09 Oct 2006, 18:18

Thanks for those links - it looks like its definitley a Akysis species. The Doradids look too round and fish like (mine are flat like plecs).

The stripes on the tail are horizontal.

I think they were sold to us as A. Hardmani (I remeber there was a H in the name), but I have the odd feeling that neither of them are and they are both something else.

My current inkling is either pashradi or Vespa for one of them, the other one is darker with less caramel on him, could be Akysis maculipinnis.

I will start a new thread in the Asian catfish forum to see how to keep them....

Cheers and thanks for your help !!!

I wish they wouldn't be so shy, then we could take a photo of them, but they bury themselves all the time, and if you poke them, they panic around the tank at lihtning speed and then bury themselves again....No chance of any pics there

Mad

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 09 Oct 2006, 20:39

There's another thing to check -and you still havben't told us the size- nasal barbels/whiskers.

Dorads -like most South American catfishes- lack nasal barbels.
Akysis however have those.

you say: stretched. and: with horizontal lines in the tail.....burying....is it a very slim built fish? really thin?
could be Amphilius or maybe even some kind of Glyptothorax species.
sure it's Akysis? those DO bury themselves (mine live in the sand as well). but I can't remember any with lines in the tailfin.