Home
 What's New
 About
 Preface
 Introduction
 Fish Anatomy
 Water Chemistry
 The Aquarium
 Plant Care
 Plant Species
 Food
 Disease
 Biotope Aquaria
   Ecosystems
   Country Database
 Fish Species
   Catfish
   Characins
   Cichlids
   Cyprinds
   Killifish
   Labyrinth Fish
   Livebearers
   Loaches
   Others
   Perches
   Rainbowfish
 Non-fish Species
 Breeding Fish
 Aquarium Photos
 Languages
   Chinese
   Croatian
   Finnish
   German
   Japanese
   Portuguese
   Spanish
 Bibliography
 Links
 Resources
 Rainforests
 Books
 Mongabay Sites
   Kids site
   Travel Tips
 News
 Contact



dog videos, cat videos, puppy videos, kitten videos, pet videos
Catfish / Pimelodidae / Reticulated Pimelodid

Reticulated Pimelodid
Perrunichthys perruno | Pictures


Synonyms: None
Physical description: An elongated catfish with a heavily forked tail.  The dorsal fin stands tall when erect.  A long pair of barbels extends from the upper jaw and two smaller pairs are located on the lower jaw.  The body color is made up of dark brown, round splotches with thin, light brown markings between.  The flanks have the same pattern.
Size/Length: To 24" (60 cm)
Similar species: The False Perrunichthys ( Leiarius marmoratus) is very similar, but easily distinguishable by its lesser amount of dorsal rays and rounded head.
Habitat: South America; tributaries of, and in the Rio Negro (Southern Venezuela and Brazil).
S: bottom
Aquarium: 72" (183 cm) or 100 or more gallons (378 L).   Leave large open swimming areas.   Use a powerful filter that provides a moderate current and is able to handle the waste of this fish.   Provide large rock shelters and caves that will not collapse when bumped by this catfish. If plants are used, they should be large, robust, and well-rooted ones.   Use a cover of floating plants to diffuse the lighting.
Water chemistry: pH 5.8-7.5 (6.5), 1-15 dH (7), 72-79°F (22-26°C)
Social behavior: A large, nocturnal predator that will eat any swallow able tank mates.   Combine with larger fish.
Suggested companions: Large cichlids, large characins, Arawana, large loricarids
FOOD: Live; fish, earthworms, crabs; occasionally tablets; chopped meat.   Like other large, predatory catfish, once mature, this fish should be fed only two or three times a week.
SEX: Unknown-possibly males are more slender than females.
Breeding techniques: Unknown
Breeding potential: 10. Spawning has not been recorded in captivity.
Remarks: Frequent water changes are necessary because of the large volume of waste this fish will produce. This fish can attain a length of over 12" (30 cm) in its first year.
Difficulty of care: 7. A large, predatory catfish that must be fed live foods.

Recent articles about fish

Overfishing may hurt Amazon forest trees
(2/5/2008) Overfishing is reducing the effectiveness of seed dispersal by fish in the Brazilian Pantanal, reports Nature. The research suggests that fishing practices can affect forest health.

Scientists find fish that literally lives in trees
(10/17/2007) Scientists have found a fish that literally lives in trees, according to research published in The American Naturalist and highlighted in New Scientist Magazine.



Piranhas originated when Amazon was flooded by seawater
(12/4/2007) South America's piranha family of fish -- notorious as eaters of flesh -- can be traced back to a single ancestor which dispersed when the Amazon was flooded by seawater some five million years ago, report researchers from the Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement (IRD). Today piranhas are exclusively freshwater fish found from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela to the Parana in Argentina.





what's new | tropical fish home | rainforests | news | search | about | contact



Copyright Rhett Butler 1994-2009

The copy for fish.mongabay.com was written in 1994-1995. Therefore some information such as scientific names may be out of date. For this, I apologize. Feel free to send corrections to me.