Brachyplatistoma capapretum

[pacu555]

http://www.raubwelse.de/galerie/raubwelse/rw097.htm

Does anyone know anything about this catfish?????
(common names etc., its looks very similar to a Bolt Catfish)

Cheers

[MatsP]

Looks like it's a recently described species:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/species ... capapretum

I have made some effort in tracking down enough information to add the species to the Cat-eLog.

--
Mats

[Suckermouth]

Indeed. It's closest relative is the giant B. filamentosum, which it has been confused with. The largest specimen in the study describing this species was 880 mm, but considering its relationship to B. filamentosum it likely gets a lot larger. The spots in the pictured fish will disappear with age; they supposedly lose them by the time they are about 300 mm, although the fish you linked in the picture I would've guessed to be larger than that. Adult coloration is similar to B. filamentosum except the dorsal coloration is much darker; this gives B. capapretum its specific name, which is apparently derived from the Portuguese words for "dark cape."

[pacu555]

Thanks for the info!!