Brachyplatystoma tigrinum • Pimelodidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Brachyplatystoma tigrinum** (Britski, 1981)
Common Name(s)	Dourada Zebra (Portuguese, Brazilian), Tigerstriped Catfish, Zebra Shovelnose
Type Locality	Cachoeira do Teotônio, Rio Madeira, Território de Rondônia, Brazil.
Synonym(s)	Merodontotus tigrinus
Pronunciation	tie green uss
Etymology	Greek, brachys, eia = short + Greek, platys = flat + Greek, stoma = mouth. This specific epithet literally means tiger(tigrinum=tiger) and refers to the stripes on its body.
Species Information
Size	500mm (19.7") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Head elongate and compressed, becoming narrower to the front, lower jaw shorter than upper. Upper and lower caudal filaments. Can be confused with Brachyplatystoma juruense, but the stripes of B. tigrinus are continuous when viewed laterally while those of B. juruense are broken or divided.
General Remarks	While its maximum size of 50 cm would appear to make this beautiful fish an ideal inhabitant for a large aquaria, its need for massive current and high oxygen levels would have to be taken into account to design an appropriate aquarium.
Habitat Information
Distribution	Known only from a few specimens from the upper Rio Madeira and Caqueta region of Colombia. Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Japurá, Caquetá (click on these areas to find other species found there) Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Madeira (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	6.8 - 7.6
Temperature	24.0-28.0°C or 75.2-82.4°F (Show others within this range)
Other Parameters	Known from cataracts of whitewater rivers.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	A predator that eats other fishes. Newly caught specimens may need some time before they learn to eat dead food, and thus may require feeding live \"feeder fish\", but they can be trained to eat pieces of fish. Pieces of marine fish is considered better than freshwater fish as it\'s much less likely to contain transferable parasites.
Furniture	Needs a highly oxygenated aquarium with a massive amount of current. Substrate should be sand/gravel with stones and driftwood placed to form hiding places.
Compatibility	Other large fishes with similar habitat requirements.
Suggested Tankmates	Large loricariids and other large current loving pimelodids.
Breeding	Unreported.
Further Information
References	Pap. Avulsos Dep. Zool. (Saão Paulo)v. 34 (no. 7) - pp110 - Figs. 1-2
Registered Keepers	(1) Kenneth Wong, (2) Theo21, (3) ani-mal-lvr, (4) Trident2004, (5) soltarii007, (6) amiidae, (7) amazonfishman, (8) SuperLaz, (9) Schmike, (10) too<many>tanks, (11) bluescotty23 (p: 2), (12) tezr, (13) Altifrons, (14) ndcp18, (15) Redtailrob, (16) spwd, who also notes: "15.5"", (17) miles3, (18) human001, (19) MilkMan, (20) snakelover, (21) Benjamin Goh, (22) AquaristJoel, (23) Buddiechrist, (24) arapaimag (k: 10), (25) victionOne, (26) richb, who also notes: "I got this fish as a 3 or 4 inch juvenile. He settled in pretty quickly. He now eats silversides and is rather spectacular. However, so far he does not like tankmakes unless he can eat them. He is currently in a 5' long 100 by himself. He beat on the planiceps until I had to move him. Unfortunately, this beautiful fish jumped, knocked the cover off the aquarium and landed on the floor. He died.", (27) yellowcat, (28) ElTofi, who also notes: "Dropped into the 720 liters to grow up a bit... it will end into the Stingrays tank, in the basement...". 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.
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Last Update	2008 Jul 15 03:29 (species record created: 2001 Apr 22 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Brachyplatystoma tigrinum (Britski, 1981)

Common Name(s)

Dourada Zebra (Portuguese, Brazilian), Tigerstriped Catfish, Zebra Shovelnose

Type Locality

Cachoeira do Teotônio, Rio Madeira, Território de Rondônia, Brazil.

Synonym(s)

Merodontotus tigrinus

Pronunciation

tie green uss

Etymology

Greek, brachys, eia = short + Greek, platys = flat + Greek, stoma = mouth. This specific epithet literally means tiger(tigrinum=tiger) and refers to the stripes on its body.

Species Information

Size

500mm (19.7") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Head elongate and compressed, becoming narrower to the front, lower jaw shorter than upper. Upper and lower caudal filaments. Can be confused with Brachyplatystoma juruense, but the stripes of B. tigrinus are continuous when viewed laterally while those of B. juruense are broken or divided.

General Remarks

While its maximum size of 50 cm would appear to make this beautiful fish an ideal inhabitant for a large aquaria, its need for massive current and high oxygen levels would have to be taken into account to design an appropriate aquarium.

Habitat Information

Distribution

Known only from a few specimens from the upper Rio Madeira and Caqueta region of Colombia.
Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Japurá, Caquetá (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Madeira (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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

6.8 - 7.6

Temperature

24.0-28.0°C or 75.2-82.4°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

Known from cataracts of whitewater rivers.

Husbandry Information

Feeding

A predator that eats other fishes. Newly caught specimens may need some time before they learn to eat dead food, and thus may require feeding live \"feeder fish\", but they can be trained to eat pieces of fish. Pieces of marine fish is considered better than freshwater fish as it\'s much less likely to contain transferable parasites.

Furniture

Needs a highly oxygenated aquarium with a massive amount of current. Substrate should be sand/gravel with stones and driftwood placed to form hiding places.

Compatibility

Other large fishes with similar habitat requirements.

Suggested Tankmates

Large loricariids and other large current loving pimelodids.

Breeding

Unreported.

Further Information

References

Pap. Avulsos Dep. Zool. (Saão Paulo)v. 34 (no. 7) - pp110 - Figs. 1-2

Registered Keepers

(1) Kenneth Wong, (2) Theo21, (3) ani-mal-lvr, (4) Trident2004, (5) soltarii007, (6) amiidae, (7) amazonfishman, (8) SuperLaz, (9) Schmike, (10) too<many>tanks, (11) bluescotty23 (p: 2), (12) tezr, (13) Altifrons, (14) ndcp18, (15) Redtailrob, (16) spwd, who also notes: "15.5"", (17) miles3, (18) human001, (19) MilkMan, (20) snakelover, (21) Benjamin Goh, (22) AquaristJoel, (23) Buddiechrist, (24) arapaimag (k: 10), (25) victionOne, (26) richb, who also notes: "I got this fish as a 3 or 4 inch juvenile. He settled in pretty quickly. He now eats silversides and is rather spectacular. However, so far he does not like tankmakes unless he can eat them. He is currently in a 5' long 100 by himself. He beat on the planiceps until I had to move him. Unfortunately, this beautiful fish jumped, knocked the cover off the aquarium and landed on the floor. He died.", (27) yellowcat, (28) ElTofi, who also notes: "Dropped into the 720 liters to grow up a bit... it will end into the Stingrays tank, in the basement...".

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.