Brachyplatystoma
tigrinum (Britski, 1981)
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ScotCat has now reached its 70th factsheet
and to celebrate this milestone we have regular contributor
and catfish expert for the U.K.magazine Practical Fishkeeping,
Chris Ralph, who has picked a quite magnificent catfish in the
Tiger-striped catfish, Brachypatystoma tigrinum. Over now
to Chris for an in-depth look at this beauty.
rachyplatystoma tigrinum is also known as the Tiger-striped
Catfish. This magnificent catfish belongs to the family Pimelodidae,
representatives of which can be found widespread throughout the
rivers of South America. The original specimens that were caught
and described by Dr Britski of the Saô Paulo Zoology Museum
were from the Rio Maderia in Brazil. It was originally thought
that this was the only location where this species of catfish
was found, however this catfish is known to be collected in Columbia
and I personally have experience of Peruvian exporters collecting
these fish in Peru. The original fish were collected in 1978 by
Michael Goulding. A publication by Dr Dario Castro of the University
of Bogotá in 1984 recorded this catfish as being collected
from the lower Caqueta River in Columbia.
Brachyplatystoma tigrinum is quite closely related to
Brachyplatystoma
juruense, but has a longer upper jaw, and the first rays
of the dorsal and pectoral fins are described as being flexible
and not pungent. Both of these catfish share a similar colour
pattern of inclined stripes on the body, although it has to be
said that Brachyplatystoma tigrinum is the more striking
of the two fish. Brachyplatystoma juruense is quite often
referred to as the "False Tigrinus". The colour pattern
is outstanding with a yellow to almost white base colour to the
body with black stripes. Most of the fins share this same colour
pattern of that of the body of this catfish.
The show size listed in the Catfish Study Group U.K. listing
is 450mm s.l. i.e. from the tip of the snout to the base of
the caudal peduncle. In their natural habitat, however they
grow well in excess of this size and can attain lengths in excess
of 600mm quite easily. This catfish is perhaps one of the most
expensive specimen from this family of fish. The first specimen
that I ever saw back in the mid eighties had a price tag of
£1000 (U.K.), and I have recently seen specimens for sale
at between £500 and £600. Obviously consideration
needs to be given to the size of aquarium in which to keep such
a magnificent catfish as this, I would not recommend anyone
to keep one of these catfish in anything less than a 72"
x 24" x 24". As well as the size of aquarium good
filtration is also very important in order to keep a catfish
such as this in perfect condition. I would also suggest that
sand such as BD Aquarium sand be used as a substrate for the
aquarium. This is a catfish that I have not personally kept
which probably has something to do with the high price that
these fish demand.
I know of a couple of catfish enthusiasts that have kept this
fish successfully over the years, one of which was Graham Crook
(Danny Blundell's son-in law) and Robin Warne.
It was whilst on a recent fish collecting trip to Peru with
Robin Warne, Giles Barlow, Allan James, Jools and Clare Dignall,
Stephen Pritchard and Alan Appleton that I found out some little
known information about this fish. The exporter in Peru that
specialises in large specimen fish such as this informed us
that they collect them as juvenile specimens from a local breeding
area in the river and grow them on for export. We were informed
that when collected at between 50 and 75mm they could be reared
successfully in the holding tanks and fed on their favourite
food of knife fish. This particular exporter found that when
collected at a size of around 300mm they did not fare well and
would not feed in captivity. The Peruvian exporter keeps these
catfish at his premises for around six months before offering
them for sale.
Long upper jaw. First rays of the dorsal
and pectoral fins are described as being flexible and not pungent.
Long maxillary barbels reaching back to the posterior of the dorsal
insertion. Small eyes laterally placed.
Yellow to almost white base colour to the body with black stripes.
Most of the fins share this same colour pattern of that of the
body of this catfish. Head area from snout to insertion of dorsal
fin, devoid of stripes.
Suggested tank mates! anything that does not constitute a meal,
I would suggest some of the larger Characins as opposed to any
other catfish, which may compete for territory. Most enthusiasts
would keep this catfish as a single specimen in a display aquarium.
| Sexing |
There are no known obvious external sexual
differences
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| Breeding |
Not recorded.
As these are predatory catfish they prefer meaty foods such as
whole prawns, mussels, pieces of fish and earthworms etc.
| Etymology |
Brachyplatystoma:
Greek, brachys, eia = short + Greek, platys = flat + Greek,
stoma = mouth
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| Glossary
of Terms: |
Maxillary barbels
: Pertaining to the upper jaw. (maxillary barbels)
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| Reference |
Sands, David; Catfishes Of The World
Volume 3 Auchenipteridae and Pimelodidae
Baensch;
Aquarium Atlas Photo Index 1-5
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| Photo
Credits |
Chris Ralph. |
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| Synonyms:
|
| Merodontotus tigrinus |
| Common
Name: |
| Tiger-striped catfish, Zebra Shovelnose |
| Family: |
| Pimelodidae |
| Subfamily: |
| |
| Distribution: |
| South America: Amazon River
basin |
| Size: |
| Up to and over 60.0cm (24inch) |
| Temp: |
| 22
-26°C (71-79°F) |
| pH.: |
| 6.5 - 7.5. |
| Hardness: |
| 4-30° dGH |
| Donation: |
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