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This is what happens:



















Phyllonemus typus fighting

this fight took place at about 10 in the morning with all the tanklights on and the shades of the living room pulled up.....
normally these fish are so nocturnal that I don't see them every day!
now they were so angry with each other that they stayed attached to each other for over 10 minutes, rolling over the sand, not being disturbed by any other fish.

typical how the fish kept biting each other in the back at the adipose instead of liplocking or finbiting with you can observe with for example Synodontis.

mature territorial Phyllonemus often have greyed "saddle markings", and this particular fight shows how these occur.
this fight is between the 2 adult females.

I have yet to see such a battle this vicious with mine

Interesting pictures

that looks brutal. Is it as brutal as it appears?

it was fairly brutal, yes

the fish were really fixed to each other. for a nocturnal to roll around in bright sunlight from outside is pretty fanatic

however, these things are quite thickskinned......they can stand a fair bit of abuse from each other.
much more than agression from cichlids.
this makes me think it's more ritualized than it looks.

Also; I used to keep 4-5 in a 4 foot tank and then they bred.
now there are 3 adults in a 315G, so I just let them at their "amusements", there's plenty rocks to make dug-outs underneath, they should be OK>

I think this fight was about spawningrights, since it's between the females.

Also; I used to keep 4-5 in a 4 foot tank and then they bred.
now there are 3 adults in a 315G, so I just let them at their "amusements", there's plenty rocks to make dug-outs underneath, they should be OK>

I think this fight was about spawningrights, since it's between the females.

That makes sense, the two are fighting over the only male...if they are that oblivious to what is going on around them, in the lake they may have been snapped up by a passing predator but I would assume this kind of action generally happens at night. (still would be risky)

Hey,

it's strange but my females keep fighting much often than males )

And someone said it is up to us ;)

they could get eaten, yes, but not easy

they're quite slimey and they have serrated pectoral spines that they can lock in place as well. not an easy meal for any predator.

I've been stung on occasion by these when i transferred them, back in the time when I bred this species in numbers.
too often they get themselves stuck in a net, so i usually caught them by hand.
safer for the fish, but definitely not safer for the fishkeeper.

Sid - a fantastic sequence of photos & a brilliant insight into these great fishes.

I think you have hit-the-nail-on-the-head with the spawning rights idea - surely there is enough territory for them in a 315g.

Hey SID
Great Pics, of Great Catfishes