Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded March 01, 1997.

Moving catfish can be a tricky business. Most have spiny rays leading their dorsal (top) or pectoral (shoulder) fins. These rays can get entangled and as a result the fish become difficult to separate from the net. Pimpictus, along with the Doradiids (Talking Catfish) and Synodontis are major culprits when it comes to net destruction. Personally I find the best way to deal with this is to put the captured catfish and net into the intended destination, put out the lights and let the fish disengage itself. This seems to work well, but if after an hour or so the fish is still stuck then a pair of scissors will do the job at the cost of a net.

The Pim Pictus seems to be more susceptible to White Spot (Ich) than many other catfish. Make sure when you are purchasing this fish that it and its tankmates are entirely free of White Spot and that they are well fed. This fish is easy to feed, but often they are imported in an underfed state and never fully recover from this.

The fish swims gracefully yet will become almost hyperactive at feeding time. As you can see below a large shoal is quite a sight! Two colour forms appear for sale. The first, Peruvian, variety has large "dalmation" style spots all over its body with smaller spots around the head. The other, Colombian, variety (which reportedly grows larger) has many more spots that are smaller, less clearly defined and almost pin-prick size on the fish's head. This differentation should only be used when comparing fish of a similar size as both patterns change with age. Although the beautiful colouration changes with age, older fish have the same brilliant blue-silver colour and graceful appearance.

Copyright information for the images used in this article can be found on the species' full Cat-eLog page.

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	Pimelodus pictus    Steindachner, 1876
Common Names	Pictus Catfish Engelwels (Germany), Pictus, Pictus Pimelodus, Pimpictus, Plettet Trådmalle (Denmark)
Type Locality	Rio Hyavary, Peru-Brazil border.
Synonym(s)	Pimelodella picta, Pimelodella pictus
Pronunciation	pim ee LOW duss - PICK tuss
Etymology	pimele, fat; –odes, having the form of, i.e., fatty, referring to their adipose fins (at the time, this was a catch-all genus for many catfish species, most of which possess a “fatty” or adipose fin) [note: many online references report that –odes is derived from odous, meaning teeth, but this is incorrect]. This specific epithet literally means painted(pictus=painted) and refers to the spots on its body.
Articles
Species Information
Size	110mm or 4.3" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Two colour forms appear for sale. The first, Peruvian, variety has large ''dalmatian'' style spots all over its body with smaller spots around the head. The other, Colombian, variety (which reportedly grows larger) has many more spots that are smaller, less clearly defined and almost pin-prick size on the fish's head. This differentiation should only be used when comparing fish of a similar size as both patterns change with age.
Sexing	Unknown.
General Remarks	Pimelodus pictus have small hooks on the dorsal and pectoral fins that are notorious for getting stuck in nets. It's best to use a plastic container to catch the fish, rather than a net.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Amazon and Orinoco River basins. Amazon (click on these areas to find other species found there) Orinoco (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Not Evaluated
pH	5.8 - 6.8
Temperature	22.0-25.0°C or 71.6-77°F (Show species within this range)
Husbandry Information
Feeding	An unfussy general carnivore. Most prepared are taken and the fish will gorge itself on live or frozen foods to a point where the aquarist must be careful not to feed too much in one sitting. Bloodworm induces a feeding frenzy and is good for acclimatizing new acquisitions. The fish will eat huge amounts in one day, its belly swelling to resemble a marble and can happily live off this for up to a week. In nature the diet consists largely of invertebrates (such as insect larvae and crustaceans), but also found to eat fish. User data.
Furniture	Swimming space is needed as this fish likes to swim especially around feeding time. You will see much more of this fish during the day if you have relatively dim lighting.
Compatibility	Peaceful, but will soon eat smaller fish, such as neon tetras, but otherwise harmless. It is considered good to keep these fish in a group of at least five fish. When kept alone, they do not appear quite as happy and active as when kept in a group.
Suggested Tankmates	Larger active fish such as tetras and gouramis. Most barbs are no good company as they tend to nip fins and barbels. They should be kept in (small) groups. Most singly kept specimens will pine away eventually. Angelfish and other ''graceful'' fishes may be bothered by this species' barbels particularly during lights-out.
Breeding	Unreported.
Breeding Reports	There is no breeding report.
Further Information
Reference	Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe v. 74 (1. Abth.), pp 144 [96].
Registered Keepers	There are 252 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 7 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 35 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for P. pictus
	Look up P. pictus on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up P. pictus on Fishbase
	Look up P. pictus on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up P. pictus on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.15.101.276
Last Update	2025 Jan 02 01:37 (species record created: 1997 Mar 01 11:22)

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