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The month of December 2012 welcomes back again, Asian Catfish expert Adrian Taylor of the Catfish Study Group to look at an Asian catfish of the Akysidae family which is funnily enough the very first family and species shown in the ScotCat Photo Gallery. Now over to Adrian for his take on this species.

crochordonichthys catfishes are members of the family Akysidae and although they grow considerably larger in both length and girth than either the genera Akysis and Parakysis, they do not seem to grow as large as some of the Breitensteinia species, which are also members of the Asian catfish family Akysidae.

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Acrochordonichthys rugosus

Acrochordonichthys species along with Breitensteinia are often referred to as ‘Asian Banjo Catfish’ due in part to their similarity in body shape, which they share with their South American Aspredinidae cousins.

Acrochordonichthys rugosus: head view

Acrochordonichthys rugosus are very varied in appearance, not only do they vary from locality to locality in colouration, but from specimen to specimen, due to these type of factors and others they have from time to time been erroneously identified as a new and different species entirely.

Acrochordonichthys rugosus is an ambush predator of some 120mm in length (SL) and one that prefers hiding under submerged logs, branches and rocks and apart from coming out to feed they do very little else, with the usual knock-on effect that after some time they tend to get forgotten about when housed in a mid-sized community tank. In the wild A. rugosus feed predominately on shrimp, small Balitorid loaches and small catfish of the genera Glyptothorax. It is also likely that at times other fish are consumed as and when the opportunity arises. So it is advisable that these catfish should be housed in a species only tank or with suitable tank mates that are too large for them to be considered a food source.

An aquarium having a substrate of sand and gravel interspersed with pieces of bog wood and rocks, along with a good filtration system, aquarium water pH with a range of 6.7 to 7.2 a temperature range of 18-24°C (63-75°F) and a robust water changing regime would make a suitable habitat into which one can comfortably keep these Asian banjo’s.

None

Acrochordonichthys buettikoferi Acrochordonichthys melanogaster Acrochordonichthys platycephalus Acrochordonichthys pleurostigma Acrochordonichthys Varius and Acrochordonichthys zonatus.

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Asia: Solo, Ciliwung, Citarum River basins, Java; Barito, Kapuas, Mahakam and Rajang River basins, Borneo; Bernam, Terengganu, Mae Nam Sungai Kolok and Pattani River basins, peninsular Malaysia and Thailand; Musi and Tulangbawan River basins, Sumatra. Type locality: Java.

12.0cm. (4¾ins)

18-24°C (63-75°F)

Like all members of the family Akysidae, Acrochordonichthys species have numerous small nodule like growths called granulations running along the length of the body in parallel rows and which also cover the head profusely.

These catfish should be housed in a species only tank or with suitable tank mates that are too large for them to be considered a food source.

Not reported.

Not reported.

Feeding A. rugosus can be a tad irksome as they tend not to feed upon commercially prepared food like granules and tablets, and therefore live foods such as adult brine shrimp, bloodworms, white worms and earthworms should be offered, although as a ambush predator feeding every day is not essential as it is likely that at times in the wild they may have to wait a day or two before a potential meal comes within ‘ambush’ range.

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.

Acrochordonichthys: Greek, akros = summit, topmost + Greek, chorda = nervous line + Greek, ichthys = fish.

Adrian Taylor pers. comm.

Photo Credits

Top image © Adrian Taylor

Bottom image: ©