The images of the albino specimen
were collected from Toofangang, Coochbehar District,
West Bengal and was only the second albino specimen
to be collected there. Habitat: Occurs
in slow-moving hill streams with sandy bottom, rivers
and beels. A very sluggish fish. Aquarium
Care: A sand substrate that has small rounded
pebbles roughly scattered in amongst it, with a few
grass and fern like plants intermittently planted
would make an ideal biotype for them to live in. Small
danio's and rasbora's make excellent tank mates. Good
water quality is essential in keeping these catfish
for any length of time or attempting to breed them,
as they tend not to tolerate too well nitrate levels
above 12.5mg/l. Ideally a pH range from 6.7 to 7.2
and a GH between 6 and 12 should be provided. Temperature
is not critical as long as there is a high level of
dissolved oxygen present at the higher temperatures,
however; they seem more at home in the cooler temperatures
of between 20°C and 22°C. Diet:
Varied live foods such as small bloodworms, grindal
worms, sifted daphnia, cyclops and newly hatched brine
shrimp should be provided as they tend not to feed
on prepared food. Remarks:
There are some publications that still mention this
species as Hara jerdoni. Erethistes jerdoni
was named due to a paper published in 2006 by Ichthyologists
Alfred W Thompson & Lawrence M. Page of the Florida
Museum of Natural History. Ferraris (2007) also stated
that the Erethistidae be moved back into the Sisoridae
family but we at ScotCat are at the moment (2021)
still keeping it and the Erithistidae family until
further scientific work is carried out on this poorly
documented genera and family. This species is still
listed as Hara jerdoni in Fishbase and a
few other online sources but this name is treated
as a synomyn in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes.
Common
Name:
Dwarf Anchor Catfish
Synonyms:
Hara jerdoni
Family:
Erethistidae
Distribution:
Asia: India, Bangladesh.
Type locality: River Kosi, now Hooghly
River south of Ranaghat, by neotype designation.
Size:
2.5cm. (1ins)
Temp:
23-27°c (72-78°f.)
p.H.
6.2-7.2.
Reference:
Adrian Taylor:
pers. comm. Thomson, A.W. and L.M.
Page 2006 Genera
of the Asian catfish families Sisoridae and Erethistidae
(Teleostei: Siluriformes). Zootaxa 1345:1-96.
Erethistes
jerdoni Dorsal view showing the long pectorals
Erethistes
jerdoni Pair-female at bottom
Erethistes
jerdoni Youngsters
Erethistes
jerdoni Albino
Erethistes
jerdoni Albino
Erethistes
jerdoni Albino
Erethistes
jerdoni Albino
Erethistes
jerdoni
Erethistes
jerdoni
Erethistes
jerdoni
Erethistes
jerdoni
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