Phractocephalus hemioliopterus • Pimelodidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Phractocephalus hemioliopterus** (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
Common Name(s)	Banana Catfish, Red-tailed Catfish, Rtc (English, Abbreviation), South American Red Tailed Catfish
Type Locality	Rio Maranham, Brazil.
Synonym(s)	Phractocephalus bicolor, Silurus hemioliopterus
Etymology	(Greek)Phraktos=Fence + (Greek)kephale=head.
Species Information
Size	1100mm (43.3") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	An unmistakable species - the only identification woes come when examining young hybrids which appear in the hobby from time to time. The amelanistic form (absence of pigmentation but no albino pink eyes) is only found in young fish and only lasts for a few weeks. The fish revert to their normal colouration thereafter.
Sexing	Unknown, although the tail colour (which varies between red and orange / pink) and darkness of the top of the head (which varies from black to grey with black spots) vary from fish to fish. These are more likely to be due to diet and mood than sexual differences.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Throughout the Amazon system; Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, Peru. Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	6.5 - 7.5
Temperature	21.0-26.0°C or 69.8-78.8°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	The important fact in feeding these fish isn't what it's when. Red tails should only be fed sporadically. Once fed they become sluggish and so the time to feed a red tail can be gauged by the activity of the fish. It will become permanently active when hungry. Over-feeding can be disastrous and is a common cause of death in these fish. In the wild the fish eat fallen fruit, crustaceans and fish.
Furniture	The fish does not require cover although subdued lighting should be utilised. Aquarium decor and equipment should be selected and deployed for it's own care rather than that of the red-tail. Thus the required heavy external filtration and out-of-tank heating are recommended. Red tails are renowned for swallowing items within their tanks (I.E. heater clips, filter intakes etc.); gladly these are often regurgitated but can sometimes cause serious problems for the fish. The best policy is to have as much as possible outside the aquarium.
Compatibility	This fish is territorial within confined spaces and is certainly capable of killing other tankmates. Best kept 'home alone' unless a very large aquarium is to be provided.
Suggested Tankmates	Given sufficient space (and we are talking small ponds here or public aquaria) the fish can be successfully mixed with other large Pimelodids, Doradids, Cichlids and Characins.
Breeding	Impossible within the confines of an aquarium. Commercial breeding as food fish is practiced in South America, a spin off from which are the aforementioned imports of 'kittens'. Aquaculture has also given us hybrids of Red tails and Tiger Shovelnose (Pseudoplatystoma sp.) Also shown above is the inappropriately named white red tail which is very uncommon indeed.
Further Information
References	Systema Ichthyol. - pp385
Registered Keepers	(1) arapaima, (2) Lornek8, (3) husky_jim, (4) roy.bryan, (5) bukster, (6) kntrygrl4lyfe (p: 2), (7) Rob Heydon, (8) RedTail Cat (p: 2), (9) Simonh1, (10) steelhead99, (11) Jeox, (12) SuperLaz, (13) Matt123, (14) necrocanis, (15) vyperboy, (16) blurock, who also notes: "Name: Cooter", (17) doesdavid, (18) pmbooper, who also notes: "10 inch red tail in 1000 gal.", (19) smegforbrains, (20) RedTailMike, (21) Arherp, (22) tezr, (23) dean30bb, (24) jprp, (25) ndcp18, (26) Redtailrob, (27) EVK5, (28) 0210Miyo, (29) Djthomas, (30) steve_ansell1, (31) miles3 (p: 2), (32) Bimmerboy12, (33) Mqktandy, (34) TheFishGuy, (35) robb harriston, (36) highoctane500, (37) clarenas, (38) gdc7688, (39) Benjamin Goh, (40) arapaimag (k: 10), (41) kennethqc (p: 2), (42) Seagirt, who also notes: "Lives up to it's reputation as a big eater. Seems to get along well with everyone else in the pond and generally sits at the bottom after it's eaten.", (43) ROV1, who also notes: "Eats everything taking by hand now", (44) freshfishing, (45) agusmeteor (k: 2), (46) slimrs, (47) ruip, (48) SuzukaS2k (p: 2), (49) mosin nagant147, (50) Pcpolo111. Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.
Breeding Reports	None.
Articles	- CotM 2000 January
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Last Update	2011 Aug 09 07:26 (species record created: 2001 Apr 22 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Phractocephalus hemioliopterus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Common Name(s)

Banana Catfish, Red-tailed Catfish, Rtc (English, Abbreviation), South American Red Tailed Catfish

Type Locality

Rio Maranham, Brazil.

Synonym(s)

Phractocephalus bicolor, Silurus hemioliopterus

Etymology

(Greek)Phraktos=Fence + (Greek)kephale=head.

Species Information

Size

1100mm (43.3") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

An unmistakable species - the only identification woes come when examining young hybrids which appear in the hobby from time to time. The amelanistic form (absence of pigmentation but no albino pink eyes) is only found in young fish and only lasts for a few weeks. The fish revert to their normal colouration thereafter.

Sexing

Unknown, although the tail colour (which varies between red and orange / pink) and darkness of the top of the head (which varies from black to grey with black spots) vary from fish to fish. These are more likely to be due to diet and mood than sexual differences.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Throughout the Amazon system; Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, Peru.
Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there)

(Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)

6.5 - 7.5

Temperature

21.0-26.0°C or 69.8-78.8°F (Show others within this range)

Husbandry Information

Feeding

The important fact in feeding these fish isn't what it's when. Red tails should only be fed sporadically. Once fed they become sluggish and so the time to feed a red tail can be gauged by the activity of the fish. It will become permanently active when hungry. Over-feeding can be disastrous and is a common cause of death in these fish. In the wild the fish eat fallen fruit, crustaceans and fish.

Furniture

The fish does not require cover although subdued lighting should be utilised. Aquarium decor and equipment should be selected and deployed for it's own care rather than that of the red-tail. Thus the required heavy external filtration and out-of-tank heating are recommended. Red tails are renowned for swallowing items within their tanks (I.E. heater clips, filter intakes etc.); gladly these are often regurgitated but can sometimes cause serious problems for the fish. The best policy is to have as much as possible outside the aquarium.

Compatibility

This fish is territorial within confined spaces and is certainly capable of killing other tankmates. Best kept 'home alone' unless a very large aquarium is to be provided.

Suggested Tankmates

Given sufficient space (and we are talking small ponds here or public aquaria) the fish can be successfully mixed with other large Pimelodids, Doradids, Cichlids and Characins.

Breeding

Impossible within the confines of an aquarium. Commercial breeding as food fish is practiced in South America, a spin off from which are the aforementioned imports of 'kittens'. Aquaculture has also given us hybrids of Red tails and Tiger Shovelnose (Pseudoplatystoma sp.) Also shown above is the inappropriately named white red tail which is very uncommon indeed.

Further Information

References

Systema Ichthyol. - pp385

Registered Keepers

(1) arapaima, (2) Lornek8, (3) husky_jim, (4) roy.bryan, (5) bukster, (6) kntrygrl4lyfe (p: 2), (7) Rob Heydon, (8) RedTail Cat (p: 2), (9) Simonh1, (10) steelhead99, (11) Jeox, (12) SuperLaz, (13) Matt123, (14) necrocanis, (15) vyperboy, (16) blurock, who also notes: "Name: Cooter", (17) doesdavid, (18) pmbooper, who also notes: "10 inch red tail in 1000 gal.", (19) smegforbrains, (20) RedTailMike, (21) Arherp, (22) tezr, (23) dean30bb, (24) jprp, (25) ndcp18, (26) Redtailrob, (27) EVK5, (28) 0210Miyo, (29) Djthomas, (30) steve_ansell1, (31) miles3 (p: 2), (32) Bimmerboy12, (33) Mqktandy, (34) TheFishGuy, (35) robb harriston, (36) highoctane500, (37) clarenas, (38) gdc7688, (39) Benjamin Goh, (40) arapaimag (k: 10), (41) kennethqc (p: 2), (42) Seagirt, who also notes: "Lives up to it's reputation as a big eater. Seems to get along well with everyone else in the pond and generally sits at the bottom after it's eaten.", (43) ROV1, who also notes: "Eats everything taking by hand now", (44) freshfishing, (45) agusmeteor (k: 2), (46) slimrs, (47) ruip, (48) SuzukaS2k (p: 2), (49) mosin nagant147, (50) Pcpolo111.

Click on a username above to see all that persons registered catfish species. You can also view all "my cats" data for this species.

Breeding Reports

None.

Articles