Tandanus tandanus (Mitchell
1838)
|
his months factsheet (July 2000) concerns a group of fish
that I thought that I would not be featuring on ScotCat,
but such is the interest in the U.K. for Australian catfish now
that I decided to include the Australasian continent on my homepage
catfish map, and on my research on Tandanus tandanus, the
'Eel-tailed Catfish', I found this to be a very interesting fish
and indeed has wet my appetite to try one day to go 'down under'
and sample the delights of trying to catch them.
As mentioned earlier Australian catfish have started to appear
in some aquatic outlets in the U.K.which has led to further
interest. There is not an abundance of freshwater catfish species
in Australia-New Guinea akin to the South American and African/Asian
continents, there is as far as I know only about 16 species.
Tandanus tandanus is actually the largest catfish compared
to the smaller Neosilurus species and as such is prized
as a good food fish and to be one of the best flavoured fish
for the home plate. It is said that it is easily caught on baits
of shrimps and worms and 'camp' leftovers. One word of warning
with these fish, as with most cats of the Plotisidae
family, is their very sharp dorsal and pectoral spines and I
have included the following extract from an Australian fisherman
Barrie Gill on this subject.
"Catfish can be a bit of a handful
once landed, and one should be particularly careful of the spikes
in the dorsal and pectoral fins. These spikes are extremely
sharp, and if you are spiked it will cause intense pain that
will last for hours. I once walked on one while walking along
a dam shoreline. The spike went straight through my boot,
and I was in a lot of pain for a couple of hours. The pain only
stopped when I got myself to a hospital and they gave me an
injection. I have had friends call me a big baby when I tell
them this story, but I don't care, all I can say is that a catfish
has never spiked them. So please be very, very careful when
handling catfish, and never just place them in the bottom of
a boat. That is only asking for trouble, and if you step on
one you will know what trouble is."
If you do come across some Australian catfishes and fancy giving
them a go I have included a couple of line drawings to help
differentiate between the Neosilurus and Tandanus
species, notice the difference in the caudal and anal fins where
Tandanus has an uninterupted anal fin which is connected
to the caudal and ends just posterier to the dorsal, whereas
Neosilurus stops well short of the dorsal fin. Both species
sport 4 pairs of barbels which they tend to hold out erect.
Acknowledgments: Nick Thorne, Webmaster of Native Fish
Australia for his interest and help.
Barrie
Gill for his help on this factsheet.
Head broad, somewhat flatened; body tapering posteriorly; a small
dorsal fin anteriorly, composed of a sharp spine and 6 or fewer
soft rays; second dorsal and anal fins confluent with caudal fin,
containing about 150 rays; pectoral fin with sharp spine and 10
soft rays; caudodorsal fin base about 50% of Standard Length,
originating on middle of back; gill rakers on first arch 23 to
32.
Colouration tends to vear from a mottled reddish-brown on the
back and sides, with the underside white/yellow, to a mottled
olive-green. The nasal barbels (on top of its snout) vary in colour
uniformly with the body, in the former being pink, in the latter
pale green. The colouration is influenced to a large extent by
its surroundings.
Well if we are not going to fish for Tandanus tandanus
for food puposes but, as I am, more interested in them as a addition
to an aquarium it may come as a surprise that for such a large
fish (90cm) they are quite suited for an aquarium as juveniles
and can become quite tame in captivity. I would of course not
house them with small fish and you would be looking for a larger
tank of 4ft and above to accommodate them. The size of 90cm is
of course the size they grow to in their natural habitat and they
will grow only to about half (45cm) this size in an aquarium,
so housing them with larger Characins and or Cichlids could work
but I would be more inclined to house even a pair of them by themselves.
They are not overly territorial but I would include some retreats
for them with safely constructured rockwork. These fish are great
escape artists so make sure you have a properly constructed lid
for your tank.
The male builds a large nest out of sandy-grit or pebbles where
he entices the female to spawn. After spawning the male guards
the nest for up to 2 weeks and they can lay up to a grand total
of 20,000 eggs. They hatch after 7 days at a temperature of between
19-25c (65-77f). Sexing out this species is easy with the male
possessing a long cylindrical papilla and the female a triangular
urinogenital papilla.
In its native habitat they feed on insect larvae, prawns, crayfish,
molluscs and small fish. In the aquarium they will eat anything
given such as earthworms, chopped liver, frozen brine shrimp,
prawns, pellets and flake.
| Etymology |
| Tandanus:
A local name, tandan, in Australia |
| Glossary
of Terms: |
Gill rakers
: Structure on the upper portion of the gill arches.
|
| Reference |
Native
Fish Australia
Allen, R.Gerald. Freshwater
Fishes of Australia.1989.
Roughley, T.C. Fishes
of Australia and their Technology 1916.
Burgess,
E.Warren Dr. Atlas of Freshwater & Marine Catfishes
1989.
|
| Photo
Credits |
Top Picture: Barrie
Gill
Middle Colourplate: Chas.Thoms.
Bottom Linedrawings: John R. Quinn. |
Australia,
in the Murray-Darling basin in North Western Victoria and
Western New South Wales
