The generic name comes from the Greek phyllos, meaning leaf and nema,
meaning thread, in reference to the distinctive barbel shape of the type species Phyllonemus typus. The specific epithet means form in Latin.
An upper body colour of brown-maroon with a cream coloured belly. Easily distinguished from the rarer P. filinemus by the small spatula-shaped endings on their maxillary barbels.
Will readily take most prepared foods. Its diet should be supplemented with live foods from time to time. In the wild, its diet has been shown to consist of very small fish and larval insects.
A very peaceful fish which may be out competed for food and picked on if kept with much larger, more aggressive fish. A model citizen except for its large mouth which means it can and will eat smaller fishes. Should be kept in a group, since it is a fairly social fish and will be emboldened by the presence of conspecifics.
According to Ochi et al, 2000, P. typus is a biparental mouth brooder. Male and female form a strong pair bond before mating and caring for young, with the male and/or female incubating and hatching the eggs in their mouth.
Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond.v. 17 (pt 6, no. 1) - pp552 - Pl. 32 (fig. 3) Ochi, H., A. Rossiter and Y. Yanagisawa, 2000 The first record of a biparental mouthbrooding catfish. J. Fish Biol. 57(6):1601-1604. Bailey, R. M., and D. Stewart, 1984 Bagrid Catfishes from Lake Tanganyika, with a Key and Descriptions of New Taxa. UMMZ, Ann Arbor. Eccles, D.H., 1992 FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Tanzania. FAO, Rome.
(1) Birger, who also notes, "currently breeding", (2) synoguy, (3) sidguppy, (4) worton[pl], who also notes, "I keep 2 pairs in 240l tank.
They are very peacful and graceful fish. They are shy at the beggining but now my p. typus feed straight from my hand! Well worth keeping.", (5) Barbie, (6) corybreed, (7) longstocking, who also notes, "I had a huge spawn and then sold off the parents. I kept this species for about a year before spawning. Pairs need peace and quiet. Currently I have 30 fry growing out from one spawn. They are sensitive to water quality but can be kept in small tanks", (8) Dinyar, (9) Julie, who also notes, "awesome little fish, nice fat bellies!!!", (10) ali12345, (11) oxdeleon, (12) Piscis, (13) d_frag, (14) zappa0609, (15) Phyllonemus, (16) tezr, (17) Yann, (18) Marduk, (19) Richard B, who also notes, "i thought i'd sold all these but one has appeared from no-where in the main tank", (20) emartin, (21) daniel4832, (22) mikek, (23) syno321. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "My Cats" data for this species.
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