PlanetCatfish.com

Hi i was at my lfs today and i asked to check their cat list as i do everytime im in there. And they had a new addition to it. It was the oil cat. I came home and immediately began searching for some info and all i could find was a few pictures and their size. Knowing this they look like they would be perfect cadidates for my 35 gallon planted tank. They looked like they had awefully large mouths do they inspite of their size eat other fish?? Are they very rare?? Any other info you can spare would be great. How much would you expect to pay for them??

Oil catfish (<i>Centromochlus perugiae</i>) are ideal candidates for community tanks. They will not eat small fish (unless they are very, very small like fry).
Get a school of 6 or so (they do best in small schools), although you might not see them much during the day (like other aucheniperids).
I've seen them go for about $10-15 each.

I'm confused... I thought "oil cat" referred to a species of now extinct or nearly extinct Trichomycterid. Evidently not. Can someone please enlighten me?

Dinyar

I've only seen the name oil catfish show up in recently in the aquarium trade as referring to <i>C. perugiae</i> (which are sometimes also known as honeycomb cats).
I guess the name comes from the black spots, which does remind one of a white fish bespattered with drops of crude oil.

One I heard from a wholesaler was they could even be found in ponds/streams with lots of road/parking lot run-off, hence oil cats!!!?? He said they were a very common fish. My thoughts at the time were if they were so common why were they so expensive! Maybe Shane will have a thought.

Rusty was mentioning that someone loosely affiliated with AMNH was doing a study of a Trichomycterid sp. now feared to be extinct that was used by the native Indians to make torches out of because the fish were rich in oil. Will ask him when he gets home from school.

Dinyar

The oil cat im referring to is the one silirus menioned. Thanks for all the help looks like my next order will 5 oil cats.

The "fat catfish" my dad was talking about, Rhizosomichthys totae, is a Trichomycterid that is believed to be totally extinct This was confirmed by Ian Harrison at AMNH, who spent a few weeks looking for it a few years back (Shane, this might be a good project, if Lake Tota isn't too far away).

The name comes from the fact that the fish is covered in layers of dense fat, and the natives dried and then burned the fish for light. Scott Schaefer is currently doing a revision of the genus, so I had a chance to see some specimens. Facinating catfish.

Rusty

Rusty,
Good suggestion! Anyone know where Lake Tota is?
-Shane

Shane,

It's in your neck of the woods right here.

HH,
Thanks, that area is under government control. I'll start planning my trip.
-Shane

What would you do if you find it?

After trying to light one on fire? I'll write something up and photo as many specimens as possible. Would not be the first "extinct" fish that I have found.
-Shane

So... Did you go there yet, Shane?

I was just searching the net for info on Centromochlus perugiae when I found this thread.

As far as I know the only exporter in Peru calling T. perugae Oil Cat is Aquarium Lima, (they have exported them as that for many years) Everyone else calls them Novia. I'm sure you all feel a little wiser ( and a bit more bored ) for knowing that. As for where they get the name for oil cat from I have no idea. For a company that can send any fish out with any name it is hard to guess.


http://www.tropicalfish.co.uk

Konig,
Did some research and found out that they are gone. Several people did a major project using various fish traps and never caught any.
-Shane

I had this 1975 Chevy NOViA that developed this huge OIL leak.Clearly word of this high perfomance road machine's demise has recently spread to the Amazon rainforest where this amazing vehicle was commemorated with the naming of a local fish.Curiously,the Centromochlus catfish moves considerably faster than the Chevy,particularly when bloodworms were made available to both car and fish.
The only thing worse than this post is the entire hobby's continued reliance on these stupid names.When will people see the error of their ways and begin to correctly use the scientific names(like I do).I will convert these people...every last one of them.
Repeat after me kids Track-Ellly-opt-rrrrrrr-opt-ick-awk(as in NewYawk)-opt-ipt-screwit-us

Saw these cool little catfish in the LFS today - no name, price or info. They looked white with dark blueish spots on them. I asked the guy what they were - but he didn't know so asked a colleague who said they were Oil Catfish.

This would have been one of the only times that I would have bought a fish without knowing anything about it, but I guess the other guy at the shop would have been able to give me some of the information I needed.

Sadly they were in a tank that was not yet ready for sale, though I'm now gonna email the shop to get some put by for when they've been quarantined.

Thanks for the info on these fish, albeit a few years ago.