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o say that the object of this months factsheet was very nice would be doing it an injustice. The factsheet of March 2021 brings us to the Bagridae family and one of the most prettiest looking in the form of Tachysurus trilineatus.

Tachysurus trilineatus

Tachysurus trilineatus is still valid in some publications as Pseudobagrus trilineatus but Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes has Tachysurus as the current genus name with Pseudobagrus trilineatus as a junior synonym.

There is still ongoing discussions in the scientific fraternity on the validity of the genus name of Tachysurus as the original description of this genera was by La Cepède in 1803 and it depicted a member of the Ariid catfish family. He proposed the name Tachysurus sinensis for a catfish depicted in a Chinese illustration archived in Paris at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN). Tachysurus sinensis La Cepède, 1803 is the type species of Tachysurus La Cepède, 1803 (pp. 150, 151) by monotypy. The locality for the illustration is given as China. The only problem with this was the painting looked very much like a Bagrid and not an Ariid species and quite probably Pseudobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson, 1846) or P. nitidus Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874.

For further reading and discussion on the validity of Tachysurus: see reference below from Grant. S. Catfish Study Group, June 2020 Volume 21, Issue 2.

Tachysurus trilineatus - albino form

Tachysurus trilineatus - xanthic form

Distrbution: China, Dongjiang basin. Type Locality: Mountain stream in Luofu Shan, Boluo Xian, Guangdong Province, China.

Highway Catfish

Pseudobagrus trilineatus, Leiocassis trilineatus

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Asia: China, Dongjiang basin. Type locality: Mountain stream in Luofu Shan, Boluo Xian, Guangdong Province, China.

7.5cm. (3ins)

15-25°C (57-77°F)

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7; Anal soft rays: 18 - 19. Nude without scale, complete lateral line. Well developed dorsal fin, adipose fin about 1.4-2.8 times the length of the dorsal fin, nearly arc-shaped.

Yellowish brown in colour, with three dark yellowish lateral strips in the side (trilineatus). One of the strips along the lateral line is discontinued.

This is a primarily a cool water catfish so placing the tank in a centrally heated house would suffice but there are also reports that this catfish is also happy at temperatures of between 23-26°C (72-79°F) so a very variable temperature range does not worry this Bagrid at all. Providing a good current in the aquarium will suit this catfish and also provide a sand substate with stones and plenty of hiding places. Not too much of a problem catfish as long as you don't house them with smaller species as being a Bagrid they will do what the vast majority of Bagrids will do "chase and eat them". Keep them in a group and they will get on fine together as long as you give them plenty of room and hiding places for each individual.

In their natural habitat these fish form small breeding colonies by making burrows or depressions on the bottom near the shore. The eggs are guarded by the male.

As with most other species of catfish the males tend to be more slender than the females. It would appear also that the male can be determined by the papillae just prior to the anal fin, a feature found in other Bagridae.

Will accept most prepared foods such as flake, tablets, live and frozen tubifex and bloodworm.

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Caudal fin: Tail
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Lateral line: A sensory line, along the sides of the body.
Ventral fins: The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins.

Tachysurus: tachys, swift; oura, tail, referring to the presumed agility of T. sinensis based on its “long and nimble” tail (translation).
trilineatus: Three lined.

Ferraris, C.J. Jr. 2007 Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Gao, G. 1991 Bagridae. p. 297-317. In J.-H. Pan, L. Zhong, C.-Y. Zheng, H.-L. Wu and J.-H. Liu (eds). 1991. The freshwater fishes of Guangdong Province. Guangdong Science and Technology Press, Guangzhou. 589 pp.
Grant, S., 2020. Probable rediscovery of the holotype of Rhinobagrus dumerili Bleeker, 1864; and comments on the identity, familial placement and validity of Tachysurus sinensis Lacepède, 1803. Journal of the Catfish Study Group v. 21 (no. 2): 25-32.

Photo Credits

© Zhou Hang
Map: Freshwater Heath Index: Dongjiang Basin, China An asssessment of freshwater ecosystem health September 2017.
Map: Google maps 2021.