Silurus
glanis Linnaeus, 1758
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Image
contributors to this species: |
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ScotCat
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Other
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Relevant Information: |
Dorsal spines (total): 1 - 1; Dorsal
soft rays (total): 4 - 5; Anal spines: 1;Anal soft rays:
90 – 95. Caudal fin with 17 rays. Occurs mainly in large
lakes and rivers, though occasionally enters brackish water
in the Baltic and Black Seas. Found in deep waters of dams
constructed on the lower reaches of rivers. Known to feed at
night on ducks, voles, crayfish and small fishes. Spawns in
the salt water of the Aral Sea (at Kulandy). Aquarium
Care: You can of course keep small Wels Catfish in
an aquarium where feeding is no problem with dim lighting and
a large external filter and they will eat anything ( just keep
an eye on your household ‘cat’), but where would it
go after outgrowing your tank as Public Aquariums have probably
their full quota. As they are very predatory, you should never
keep it together with smaller fish, because especially the small
ones can swallow very big things. You should also get it some
kind of shelter like a root or some kind of tube. Diet:
You can actually keep a Wels in an aquarium as long as it is
small enough, but you should NOT give it normal catfish food
which contains a lot of plant-material. S. glanis is
a highly carnivorous predator and will eat a lot of things.
Worms are very good, as well as, dependent on its size, insect
larvae. Crushed snails also work, but if they get bigger you
should mainly feed them with fish. They will even eat dead fish
or chunks of it, and I have often read that they even eat normal
meat and squid in aquariums, but over a longer time this is
possibly not that good. |
Common
Name: |
Wels catfish |
Synonyms: |
Siluris glanis, Silurus silurus,
Silurus glanis aralensis |
Family: |
Siluridaeycipitidae |
Distribution: |
Europe and Asia: Russia,
Central & Eastern Europe. Germany, upper Rhine and
eastwards to the Black and Caspian Seas. Introduced to
other waters for fishing purposes such as the River Ebro in
Spain. |
Size:
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2.3m. (9ft) |
Temp: |
04-20°C
(35-67°F) |
p.H. |
6.0-8.0. |
Reference: |
Froese, R. and D. Pauly.
Editors. 2008.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
www.fishbase.org, version (11/2008).
Bühler; Markus, (pers. comm. Oct. 2008).
ScotCat Factsheet no. 1; Jan. 1997 |
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