NAMAZU!
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I found this one to add.. Living in So. California, no stranger to earthquakes. Experienced the Sylmar earthquake in 1971 (3.4) and later the Northridge quake in 1994 (6.7), living within a few miles of the epicenter of both. Earthquakes are not aquarium friendly, the ...

IMG_2449.jpg Thanks for posting this, Eric! I have a pair of adults, @ 18" or so, kept for 2 1/2 years. Very timely this, about a week ago I heard a strange noise coming from their 130G tank, a low to mid frequency 'grinding' sound, two times for maybe 10 then 5 seconds in duration. At first I ...

Country, region or river system would of course be most helpful. Most I've seen imported to the U.S. have been from Peru or Colombia. From looking at the bucket shot there appears to be a mix of males and females to my eye. The one's with big heads are likely males and smaller headed ones in ...

They're definitely a Batrochoglanis species but probably not Raninus, more likely to be B. Villosus at a glance. A side view would be most helpful as caudal fin markings are distinctly different between the two species. B. Raninus tail markings are commonly clear with a dark black vertical band ...

Not knowing Eric's answer, I do remember he had a group at one point. I've never kept them as a group, only as individuals. In general, pseudopimelodid's tend to not get along well with conspecifics as they grow. As juveniles they can be fine with each other for a while but as they grow become ...

10" TL I saw on MFK that someone found one for sale online and got one. Looks just like a Batrochoglanis Raninus...

Hi Koltsix, thanks for your comments and observations as well, good to compare notes about keeping these fish with so few in captivity. Nice that your fish show similar feeding behaviors to mine. I got in touch with the vendor where I got them when mine started showing possible pre-spawn behavior ...

Update, well it didn't happen beyond the behaviors that ensued for a few weeks, mostly nest building, excavation at one end of the tank and both spending time there, then doing the same at the other end of the tank. I was looking for any evidence of a gravid female (assuming the larger fish is ...

The lake has an abundance of 2-3" silverside minnows, some folks use them live or dead, along with worms and carp baits and rarely will catch pleco's. Seemingly omnivorous common pleco's may be pisciverious as well, the lure I was using resembles the silversides...

Thanks Eric for narrowing down the possible species, to my eye it most closely resembles P. Pardalis based on it's skin patterns.
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Also likely is a hybrid of many species under the heading of 'common pleco's' similar looking but with differences as to dorsal fin sizes, etc. I once ...

Near my house in So.Cal is a suburban lake fed by a water reclamation treatment plant, part of the process is that the water released into the lake is heated and stays warm year round. Aside from the usual array of domestic species, there exists a large population of overgrown H. Plecostomus that ...

Update today. More suspicious activity the last 2 days. At one point it seemed they had lost interest but late yesterday the size and depth of the potential nest was enlarged by the male fish. As to Viktor's previous question, I'm assuming the smaller fish is male, it has been the smallest over time ...

Eric, I'm very saddened to read of your tragic loss. I for one have followed your experiences with those fish since you first collected some on your Peruvian expeditions and ever since, seeking knowledge about their species and sharing your findings with all of us who seek to know more from your ...

Thanks Viktor! I didn't say but the large one is the female. Once the giraffe cat was removed, I sensed that the pacman cats felt more at ease, free to move about as they please. I don't think the pacman's recent emergence triggered the giraffe cat as there have been periods in the last year when ...

For Eric, sorry, caught up in my own thing and failed to comment on your situation with the B. Villosus as I intended. Since both of us are in uncharted territory with insufficient data available to predict spawning behavior with either species, the need to experiment is surely worthwhile. I suppose ...

Hi Eric, well congratulations may be a bit premature, not ready to hand out cigars just yet! As of this morning both fish have sort of abandoned the nest area for now, just going their separate ways as before. Maybe it's just a trial run for them as one may not be ready. I would think there would be ...

Where was I, OK here's a photo of the females belly showing the pigmentation, the male too:
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I should mention another behavior, last week the male fish was also nipping at the female's caudal penduncle causing some shredding, now stopped and healing after adding a bit of Melafix:
IMG ...

Where to start, well first a backstory, I bought a pair around 16 months ago @ 3 1/2" & 4", Since then they have grown to 11" and 12" TL. Up until now they shared my 130G tank with my Auchenoglanis Occidentalis- Volta River strain giraffe catfish, originally @ 10" now about 15" TL male fish. Until a ...

At one point prior to 2017 these species were all considered to be pseudopimelodus until the revision split the genus into pseudopimelodus and rhyacoglanis. If photos in the cat-eLog are any indication your fish so closely resembles image #1 under R. aff. pulcher although probably not scientifically ...

I have a few also: Anadoras Grypus 4" kept 3 years+
Rhinodoras Dorbignyi 2 specimens 6" & 8" kept 3 years+
Wertheimeria Maculata 2 specimens 6" & 7" kept 1 year-8 mos.

Enjoyed the video, Eric! They seem to be a very active species if your video is any indication. Congratulations in finding them for sale and being the first on here to show them off. Their behaviors seem a bit different than Pseudopimelodus Bufonis for example that in my experience, their movements ...

I have just 2 species, a Batrochoglanis cf_villosus and a pair of Lophiosilurus Alexandri...

Good question Viktor, It was because of you who identified the fish as a 'Volta' variant when posted for sale on MFK that made me decide to buy it as you have reported that they are inclined to remain smaller than other versions of A. Occidentalis. Having searched for scientific ways to determine ...

My 130G tank collection, first some photo's
This is the first one in, originally 10" long, now grown to 14" an Auchenoglanis Occidentalis-Volta river variety:
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The two Lophiosilurus Alexandri cats, early on..
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Right away they started to bury themselves in the gravel ...

To answer, tank mates with the R. Gogra were of similar or larger size. At the time Bagrid species along with S.A. predatory species were the focus of my hobby back then. I did get a pair of small R. Rita but they didn't last long. I raised up a S. Aor in same tank to 14" also a B. Yarelli to same ...

Many years ago I found a Rita Gogra at my LFS, it was a trade-in from a previous keeper. They didn't know what is was nor did I. At the time I assumed it was some sort of rare South American pseudopimelodid species as it resembled something like a mini L. apurensis based on coloration and general ...

Yes sedentary is an understatement with these fish! Were you to publish a scientific paper such based upon the nocturnal and diurnal behavioral characteristics of Batrochoglanis Villosus you could probably complete it during your lunch break! The most interesting thing is how their color/pattern ...

Too bad for your friend's cichlids, invariably the rarest fish are the first to go, with lophiosilurus and batrochoglanis they will try to or eat fish half their own size I've found. Wishing you success in the spawning endeavor! I find it most interesting that you are able to keep a group in one ...

Thanks Eric for providing the links to the maps and to the organizations that track the occurrences of species found through collecting samples worldwide. Nice to have more resources to search when investigating the rarer species where data can be so very limited or absent compared to more commonly ...

Further proof of b. villosus sp. found in Iquitos Peru collected by Bekateen last year!