PlanetCatfish.com

Not mine but from here http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... 2-Viewing) ...

I suspect an auchenipterid-pimelodid hybrid.

Thanks, HH. Wayne The Pain from MFK thinks the same (see the MFK thread).

Joel, also from MFK, wrote to me a PM that I think provides further useful info: "Not sure if it helps but the cat that RangerBlue posted from Shark Aquarium (VJ: Hillside, NJ) has been there for a few years and has not grown at all. There is a tank of 3 or 4 at approx. 5" to 6" if I remember correctly. Very pale in color, long whiskers..."

George, the owner of Shark Aquarium, does not know what they are. As I understood these fish are not for sale but IDK why.

Is it possible to get more pics? Especially the humeral process and the ventral fins/area. The head and eye morphology are that of an auchenipterid, the rest is a pimelodid, possibly .

Jools

Hi all, thought i'd come over and see the thoughts of all the catfish addicts on here

I'll have a chat with George and see if we can't figure it out. It will need lots more pics.

Jools

Any luck tracking down good old George, Jools? I understand catfish (well, most anything...) take a back seat to a newborn! Congratulations!

George and I have been talking about the fish, it was imported from Brazil. It occurs to me that getting it to catcon2014 would be a nice idea...

Jools

Jools wrote:it was imported from Brazil.

Given that fact, could it not be a yet unknown Pimelodidae or Heptapteridae?
As an example from another genus (and another continent): I have seen Chrysichthys species with very large eyes, despite the fact that most members of that genus have much smaller eyes.
I doubt that - given the length - this fish would be commercially hybridized; it seems useless as a food fish.
Natural hybridizing seems unlikely, given the fact that Auchenipteridae use internal fertilization.

With thanks to George at Shark Aquarium and @TwoTankAmin, the fish in question is now swimming around in one of my tanks. I am pretty confident it's a pimelodid. Here's recent iPhone pic, I have more "proper" camera pics/angles if anyone is interested.

Nice! The fish moved to UK!

If I read between the lines, neither George nor anyone else has so far clarified what this might be exactly, not even genus or hybrid, etc.

All we know is that six of these were imported from Brazil a year or two ago and that this is the single remaining one.

It's quite small for a pim hybrid out of Brazil. The mouth and eyes do look unusual, but I wonder if it's just an obscure pimelodid that's not commonly photographed.

Cheers,

Jools

Hope you get to the bottom of what this fish is?

Hi Jools! Any new development on this fish by chance?

I think it's parapimelodus. Johnny Jensen is coming to stay at my house after the CSG convention, so many more pics then.

Cheers,

Jools

This fish is still going well and is in the catalog as
.