For the first time ever we were able now to import a catfish from Argentina which is new for the hobby. It looks amazingly similar to the Asian shark, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (a well known synonym of that species is Pangasius sutchi). The identification of the new fish wasn´t easy, but thanks to Ingo Seidel from Aqua Global we were at least succussful and identified the fish as Auchenipterus nigripinnis.
In contrast to the Asian shark the Argentinians have long barbels. However, behaviour is quite the same in both species.
Maximum length reported in Auchenipterus nigripinnis is about 20 cm, so it fits much better to tanks of usual size than the Asian species, which can reach a length of far beyond a meter.
Moreover, the Argentinean shark cat is an energy-friendly species. In nature, it lives in the LaPlata basin of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. So it is used to temperatures as low as 10°C at times. Heating of the tank is not necessary, if the tank is placed indoors.
The fish should be kept in swarms that swim around the whole day through. They can be fed with any food for carnivorous fishes that fits the mouth. Plants are not eaten. Other species are ignored as long as they are too large to be taken as food. The specimens imported now (January 2009) are rather small, about 3 cm total length.
For our customers: the species has the order code 209551.
Text & Photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Argentinien/Argentina |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 3-4 |
