Very strange looking fish as
the head is almost half as long as the body with a
very wide head and large mouth with its gape extending
to around the eye area. Habitat:
Lives in mud at bottom of rivers. Latest (March 2000)
male specimen caught in rather shallow water on the
sandy bottom of the river, which had a very low water
level following a long period of drought (in Kenya).
Female (caught later in 2000). Aquarium Care:
Not a catfish for the home aquarium as it is extremely
predatory and would need to be fed on live fish. The
other criteria is the large size it attains. Remarks:
This catfish is rare so it would probably never be
seen in the hobby.
Common
Name:
Somalian giant catfish
Synonyms:
None
Family:
Claroteidae
Distribution:
Africa: Restricted
to the Juba River, Somalia and Lower Tana River in
Kenya. Type locality: Gelib, fleuve
Juba, Somalie méridionale.
Size:
75.0cm. (2ft. 6ins)
Temp:
23-26°C (73-79°F)
p.H.
6.0-7.0.
Reference:
De Vos, L.
2001 Rediscovery of the giant catfish Pardiglanis
tarabinii (Siluriformes: Claroteidae). Ichthyol. Explor.
Freshwat. 12(3):213-214. Seegers, L. 2008 The catfishes of
Africa. A handbook for identification and maintenance.
Aqualog Verlag A.C.S. GmbH, Germany. 604 p.
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