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 here are now as of January 2019, 24 species of Microglanis from the Pseudopimelodidae family, the last two named in 2016, Microglanis nigrolineatus and Microglanis xerente. We concentrate this month on a species well known in the hobby but only now becoming more readily available, the Dwarf marbled catfish, Microglanis poecilis.

Microglanis poecilus

 

The most common Microglanis species that you will encounter will be M. iheringi which is exported more often than our factsheet of the month due to the accessibility of each species. In the last few years more aquarists are collecting in the rivers of French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana and so this catfish is becoming more readily available to the hobbyist although it is still a rare species to be seen in your local fish shop.

There can be confusion between another three species of the same genera, Microglanis iheringi, M. secundus and M. parahybae. There are diferences in colour patterns, especially on the caudal peduncle and caudal fin areas.

 

Microglanis poecilus - caudal view

 

The line drawings below may help you to identify your Microglanis but being able to see your species in your tank to do this is another matter entirely as they are very secretive as you can go months without spotting them, unless you can view them with the lights out at night when they come out for their forays.

 

 

M. poecilus

M. iheringi

M. parahybae

M. secundus

 

 

 

Distrbution: Essequibo River basin

 

To sum up, a very nice looking pim, while being very nocturnal, but being able to see them on the odd occasion makes up for the weeks that you thought you had lost it, and so a nice addition to a medium sized community tank. It would be better to purchase a few of this species instead of a single individual as they will be happier with conspecifics.

Remarks: in some publications the Standard Length is documented as 3.5cm.

 

Dwarf marbled catfish

None

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South America: Essequibo River basin and rivers of French Guiana. Type locality: Below Packeoo Falls, British Guiana.

7.0cm. (3¾ins)

21-25°C (69-77°F)

Premaxillary dental plate with rounded lateral margin. The caudal fin is somewhat variable, usually scalloped with rounded (or at least not very sharp) lobes, the upper one the larger. Lateral line not complete. Maxillary teeth without backward projection. Pectoral fin with i,5 rays; tip of pectoral spine pointed.

A good addition to the medium sized community tank, and will not harm the occupants unless they are small enough to fit into its mouth such as newly born fry and young fish. If you keep livebearers such as Guppies and Platies in with them you will very rarely be overrun with fry as the Dwarf marbled catfish will promptly finish them off on its night time prowls. Hiding places such as rockwork, plants and or wood will benefit this species and help, along with regular water changes, to keep it happy in its surroundings.

Not recorded but there is a report on the breeding of Microglanis iheringi on the factsheet of April 2004.

Can be fed a varied diet of tablet food, pellets, worm foods and frozen food such as bloodworm.

Microglanis: Micro = small; glanis = catfish.
poecilus: From the Greek, poikilos = variecoloured, pied, mottled, spotted.

By Kmusser - Own work using Digital Chart of the World and GTOPO data., CC BY-SA 3.0.
Catfish Association of Great Britain: Information Book 4. 1978. 23p.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Mol, H.A. Jan, The Freshwater Fishes of Suriname. BRILL, Leiden Boston, 2012. 889 p.
Sleen, van der Peter and Albert, S. James; Field guide of the Amazon, Orinoco & Guianas. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford. 2018.

Photo Credits

©  Steven Grant: @