Pseudopimelodus bufonius • Pseudopimelodidae • Cat-eLog

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	**Pseudopimelodus bufonius** (Valenciennes, 1840)
Common Name(s)	Giant Bumblebee Catfish, Jello Catfish, Jelly Catfish
Type Locality	'Cayenne' - probably Suriname
Synonym(s)	Pimelodus bufonius
Pronunciation	sue doh pim EE low duss - boo fawn ee iss
Etymology	Greek, pseudes = false + greek, pimele = fat + Greek, odous = teeth False pimelodus.
Species Information
Size	245mm (9.6") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	A species with an incredibly wide distribution, these fish are likely a group of species.
Sexing	Males have a pointed genital papillae.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Rivers of northeastern South America from Lake Maracaibo to eastern Brazil! Orinoco (click on these areas to find other species found there) Lake Maracaibo (click on these areas to find other species found there) (Click the map-icon to show/hide map of species distribution)
pH	5.6 - 7.6
Temperature	24.0-28.0°C or 75.2-82.4°F (Show others within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Not a fussy feeder, doesn\'t require but will greedily accept feeder fish, crustaceans and all meaty frozen or live foods. Will also readily accept sinking pellets.
Furniture	Requires a shady retreat such as a pipe or large piece of bogwood. Doesn't require a specific substrate although, in nature, is found over sand substrate in leaf litter deposits matching its colouration pattern. In situ it is an adept ambush predator.
Compatibility	Not aggressive territorially, generally skitish during the day and prone to hiding away until darkness when it becomes very predatory with tankmates of equal to smaller size.
Suggested Tankmates	A larger fish tank. Silver dollars, larger armoured catfish and bigger south American cichlids are best. Essentially tankmates should be 25%-50% larger than this fish.
Breeding	Unreported.
Further Information
References	Hist. Nat. Poiss. v. 15 154
Registered Keepers	(1) Dave Rinaldo, (2) yellowcat (k: 2), who also notes: "Both are 7" TL", (3) lordotterby, (4) doesdavid, (5) tezr, (6) Wiccatfish, (7) Redtailrob, (8) rodrigd2, (9) JamieH (k: 2), (10) Stackdeck, (11) Kampfer, (12) uffe77, (13) miguel mitchel. 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	2006 Nov 11 06:00 (species record created: 2002 Oct 19 00:00)

Cat-eLog Data Sheet

Scientific Name

Pseudopimelodus bufonius (Valenciennes, 1840)

Common Name(s)

Giant Bumblebee Catfish, Jello Catfish, Jelly Catfish

Type Locality

'Cayenne' - probably Suriname

Synonym(s)

Pimelodus bufonius

Pronunciation

sue doh pim EE low duss - boo fawn ee iss

Etymology

Greek, pseudes = false + greek, pimele = fat + Greek, odous = teeth
False pimelodus.

Species Information

Size

245mm (9.6") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

A species with an incredibly wide distribution, these fish are likely a group of species.

Sexing

Males have a pointed genital papillae.

Habitat Information

Distribution

South America: Rivers of northeastern South America from Lake Maracaibo to eastern Brazil!
Orinoco (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Lake Maracaibo (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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

5.6 - 7.6

Temperature

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

Husbandry Information

Feeding

Not a fussy feeder, doesn\'t require but will greedily accept feeder fish, crustaceans and all meaty frozen or live foods. Will also readily accept sinking pellets.

Furniture

Requires a shady retreat such as a pipe or large piece of bogwood. Doesn't require a specific substrate although, in nature, is found over sand substrate in leaf litter deposits matching its colouration pattern. In situ it is an adept ambush predator.

Compatibility

Not aggressive territorially, generally skitish during the day and prone to hiding away until darkness when it becomes very predatory with tankmates of equal to smaller size.

Suggested Tankmates

A larger fish tank. Silver dollars, larger armoured catfish and bigger south American cichlids are best. Essentially tankmates should be 25%-50% larger than this fish.

Breeding

Unreported.

Further Information

References

Hist. Nat. Poiss. v. 15 154

Registered Keepers

(1) Dave Rinaldo, (2) yellowcat (k: 2), who also notes: "Both are 7" TL", (3) lordotterby, (4) doesdavid, (5) tezr, (6) Wiccatfish, (7) Redtailrob, (8) rodrigd2, (9) JamieH (k: 2), (10) Stackdeck, (11) Kampfer, (12) uffe77, (13) miguel mitchel.

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.