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Hippocampus Bildarchiv (1) Yann Fulliquet (3) Riny Gieltjes (2) Allan James (1) Dave Schumacher (1)

Habitat: Inhabit inshore waters to 20 m deep, and restricted to the rocky littoral zone. Rests on the bottom with the modified maxillary barbels. Nocturnally active meanwhile resting beneath rocks and within interstices in the rock or rubble substrata during the day. Reproduction: Oviparous. First report of bi-parental mouthbrooding among catfishes. Aquarium Care: pH 7.6; hardness of water 12; temperature tolerance 25°C; tank capacity, 60L. Aquarium lighting should be as dark as possible as long as fishes are visible; a peaceful, bottom-swimming fish which prefers a set-up with rocks, plants, and driftwood in an aquarium. This species is best kept in a group as it does like company of its own kind and will feel more secure as it is quite a shy catfish and can get bullied in a tank with larger aggressive species. As with all Bagrid type fish it will be attracted to smaller fish at night and may predate on fry, but all in all a good addition to a mixed Rift Valley tank set-up. Diet: Stomach contents examined consist of shrimps, occasionally debris from larval insects, and fish remains which apparently are clupeids possibly Limnothrissa. In its native habitat they feed on larval insects and crustaceans and in the aquarium they will eat most foods given such as frozen bloodworm, catfish tablets, white worm (sparingly) prawns and shrimp.

Spatula-barbeled catfish

None

Claroteidae

Africa: Lake Tanganyika.

10.0cm. (4ins)

23-26°C (73-79°F)

7.5-8.0.

Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase.World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (07/2009).
ScotCat Factsheet: no. 121. July 2006.